Learning the Ropes
by SaccharineGray
Summary: Nothing could have prepared Orochimaru for what did stand in the doorway: it was a girl. With pink hair. And she was saying, "My name is Sakura Haruno of the leaf, and I want to join you. I want to become strong."
1. What the Hell's She Doing Here?

_Summary: Nothing could have prepared Orochimaru for what did stand in the doorway: it was a girl. With pink hair. And she was saying, "My name is Sakura Haruno of the leaf, and I want to join you. I want to become strong." _

It wasn't a particularly interesting day at base. Kabuto was experimenting, Orochimaru was plotting, Sasuke was brooding, and all the Sound Village was training or resting. Or at least, that's how it seemed until Orochimaru heard loud bangs and crashes, dull punches and kicks, and several yells of "LET GO OF ME YOU IDIOTS, CAN'T YOU SEE I'M COMING WILLINGLY?" and what sounded suspiciously like a body thudding against the wall.

Orochimaru looked up from the scroll on which he had transcribed his newest jutsu, raising an eyebrow. Nobody disturbed the quiet eeriness of his base…ever. Usually, those who resisted enough to do so were just killed. Thus, his curiosity was quite perked as the door was harshly pounded upon. This could mean two things: somebody was let through, or somebody forced their way through. The pounding intensified.

"Come in!" the snake called, fearing that it might break if it endured much more abuse. The door opened and Orochimaru expected to see a big, muscular man with blood staining his hands, having beaten all the other guards up and here to assassinate Orochimaru himself. But nothing could have prepared him for what did stand in the doorway, with the guards still intact but a bit bruised behind them.

It was a rather short girl.

With pink hair.

And she was saying, "My name is Haruno Sakura of the Leaf, and I want to join you. I want to gain power through training."

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha did not like waking up.

He was quite grouchy in the morning. It signaled another day when he would be training, too slowly, annoyingly; another day when he couldn't yet kill Itachi; another day closer to the time he would have to turn over his body to the Snake so that together they could accomplish a mutual goal; another day filled with weaklings fearing him. He did not exactly look forward to losing his body to a creep like Orochimaru-sama. He was foul and disgusting—and that tongue…No, sleeping was true bliss…

However, Sasuke was definitely not a lazy person. He knew he needed this training, and if it meant killing Itachi, well, waking up in the morning was an infinitely small price to pay.

He clambered out of bed, threw on a shirt, and opened the door to his room. His sword was already sheathed at his waist—he slept with it, of course. In Orochimaru's lair, you never knew what would come for you. The first few days, when he had neglected to be prepared, he'd woken to two slitted eyes staring at him. They were purple. He'd scrambled out of bed, looking for his weapon, but by the time he found it the creature was gone. No harm had been done, but it had been enough to scare him out of his wits. That had been back then. Sasuke no longer got scared.

Sasuke walked silently toward the training room, the dimness of the hall not halting him at all. His sharingan was nearly permanent nowadays, what with its being in constant use. The sharingan, however, wasn't responsible for his other senses, also heightened: those were a result of training and lack of exposure to real light. His now sensitive nose suddenly picked up the scent of blood. The avenger stopped dead in his tracks, then broke into a sprint to the source.

He pushed the training hall door open and beheld a strange sight… a lone figure standing in the middle of the room… and bodies laying all around it. What was this? His hand instinctively crept to the hilt of his sword.

Familiar laughter filled the hall—Orochimaru's. He emerged out of the shadows. "Well, well, well… it appears that perhaps you can be of some use after all. Now, heal them—every one of them." Sasuke raised an eyebrow. So this person was a medical ninja? What could Orochimaru want with him? He already had that Kabuto… the mysterious figure turned and knelt by the closest body, then stopped suddenly.

"We're not alone," he said in an unusually high voice.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun! You're just in time to meet the newest addition… I do believe you know each other, no?"

Sasuke realized that the 'he' was, in fact, a 'she'. He froze. "Yes," the woman said. "We did."

"Then I will leave you to get reacquainted," Orochimaru cackled sadistically, a grin on his face. It was almost as though he knew…

No. He couldn't. Impossible.

As Orochimaru exited, he slowly stepped over to the newest member. The light threw her face into relief, and blood was splattered in a few places, including her lips, pink hair, and around her green eyes. Sasuke knew it wasn't hers. She had already acquired sound attire similar to his, only in dark, forest green. Her hair was in a high bun, bangs held back by a Konoha Headband with the typical kunai slash all Rogue Ninja inflicted on their hitai-ate. Her skin was as pale as ever, shining with sweat and dirt. She still panted slightly, leaning over a body, ragged, cut-up nails on the victim's chest.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun," said Sakura Haruno, not looking up.

She released chakra into her fingers and color flooded back into the man's cheeks, his breathing steady.

* * *

Emotionless. Emotionless. Keep your face _emotionless. _He'd thought it would be a bit longer before Konoha found him—wait, no, that wasn't right. Her forehead protector was, after all, slashed. Sakura wasn't working for Konoha. But she had to be—she wasn't the type to abandon her town, her friends. Those bonds that held her there…she wasn't strong enough to sever them.

"I'm not going back," Sasuke told her, managing to keep his anger in check. His irrational, pointless anger.

"That's not why I'm here," Sakura responded testily. She reached into a pack strapped to her side, pulling out a bandage, and putting pressure on another person's profusely bleeding leg. She immediately turned around to another warrior, grabbing his arm and twisting it into place. Sasuke managed to control his wince at the sound of snapping, creaking bones.

"Then why?" he called over the ruckus. She stopped briefly, ripping the man's shirt and swiftly creating a sling out of it. There was another few cracks as she slid it over the man's neck and under his wrist. She staunched the blood flow of a nasty gash adorning another soldier's face, and grabbed a kunai from his leg. Her kunai, Sasuke presumed, which she had used to fell him. Not even facing him, Sakura replied,

"Same as you: to get stronger." She was already placing her hands onto a man's chest, but then paused. "Damnit. This one's too far gone." She switched to the body next to it. Sasuke didn't know whether he was more surprised by her answer to his question or her cursing. He noticed they were slowly moving through the bodies, advancing from the middle to the outsides. Sakura was panting, but never paused. So, she was a medic-nin. Again, Orochimaru already had Kabuto…why? Something else occurred to him: who had been the one to injure all these ninja? Orochimaru?

Sasuke suddenly felt furious. He was supposed to be training now, but she had taken up the hall. Why was she here, anyway? She reminded him of things he didn't want to remember. She was a weakling, and Orochimaru would expect him to save her in every little instance. Not to mention, she would probably cling to him like a parent… but wait… she had brushed off the fact that he wasn't returning to Konoha so easily. Somehow, this made Sasuke even angrier. Then he stopped himself. Why was the fact that she no longer cared if he went important? He didn't need her for anything. No, this was completely irrational…

He turned in place without a word and strode outside, leaving Sakura alone with the hundreds of bodies she had to heal.

* * *

Sasuke burst into Orochimaru's room without knocking. He didn't care what he saw in there, he was going to get some answers.

"Why is she here?" Sasuke demanded furiously. "She's obviously a spy, here to infiltrate!"

Orochimaru didn't even glance up from his work at his desk, his back still to Sasuke. He merely picked something out of a drawer and threw it at Sasuke.

Sasuke's jaw dropped when he caught the object. "This… this is…"

"She is here for the same reason as you; nothing more. Your training will commence this afternoon. Do not bother me again without cause," Orochimaru's deadly voice sounded. He was still painting. Sasuke swallowed his pride and bowed.

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama." And with that, he turned his back and swept from the room, throwing the object onto the bed.

Orochimaru smiled over his scroll. _The boy has finally learned some respect._

_

* * *

  
_

As he padded back toward his room—or rather, cell—Sasuke heard light footsteps behind him. It was Sakura and Kabuto together; without a doubt, Kabuto was showing her where her room was. Sasuke listened for their steps even as he pressed his palm to his door to open it. He'd made it so that the door recognized his chakra signature and only allowed it in. As he stepped in, he realized that they were stopping at the room right next to his. He paused briefly in dismay, then entered his room and slammed the door behind him, lighting the candles with a quick fire-style. He was restless. He _needed _to train.

Angrily, he opened up a scroll, grabbing it from behind his bed, and began to read it. No sooner had he unfolded it than there was a knock on his door.

"Enter," Sasuke said clippedly.

"There's no need for that," Kabuto's voice came. "I just want to make sure you will guard Sakura-chan's room, as I don't currently have the key to it. For now I've placed a binding jutsu on it, and only you and I and of course Orochimaru-sama can open it."

"Fine," Sasuke responded, making sure his glare was visible through his words.

"By the way, weren't you two on the same team? I remember in the Chuunin exams—"

"No."

"It wasn't a question, Sasuke-kun. I know you were. I expect the next few days will be quite…interesting."

"Go away."

"Very well, but just because you ignore her doesn't mean she doesn't exist!" Footsteps, padding away.

Sasuke shrugged. It had worked well enough in the past.

Still, even if he did try to ignore her, he knew it wouldn't be easy. Sakura had no idea what Orochimaru's base was like. She would obviously need help. And he would have to provide it, or Orochimaru would skin him. He waited for the classic timid "Umm, Sasuke-kun?" and was quite surprised when he heard a banging on his wall from the right, which was Sakura's side.

"Hey! Could you at least unbind the fucking bathroom?"

Sasuke choked on his own saliva.

* * *

Sasuke was sweaty and tired from his training that afternoon. Orochimaru had worked him harder than ever before, only now occasionally taunting him about Sakura being a better ninja than he. Ridiculous, but Sasuke had his pride to nurture, and couldn't face an insult like that. In the end, Sasuke was left panting on the ground and scowling at the illusion ninja Orochimaru had used to finish him off. It disappeared in a puff of smoke. "That's enough for now," Orochimaru said, and laughed, though the humor was entirely lost on the raven-haired avenger. "Dinner will commence in two hours."

Sasuke's brows furrowed. "Dinner?" Until now, Orochimaru hadn't said anything about it. Sasuke had always journeyed out to a nearby village to steal anything he needed, and a small meal a day usually satiated him.

"Yes. Haruno-san offered to cook for us today, and I must say I am curious to see what she will come out with." Orochimaru turned on his heel and swept out of the room.

"C-cook?" Sasuke stammered at his sensei's retreating back. "S-Sakura?"

* * *

Okay, Sasuke admitted it. He had sort of missed good, cooked meals. He'd almost missed conversation. But he had definitely not missed Sakura. Nope.

He arrived in the dining hall in fresh clothes. He felt a sudden pang of pain in his chest, remembering that when he'd eagerly rush into the dining room at home his mother would cook food with the exact same scent. He'd never noticed back then, but the food his mother had cooked was delicious. He hadn't appreciated anything enough. He wasn't sure he could handle this.

Sasuke pushed away his sentimental thoughts. There was hardly any time for those when you were training with an immoral and immortal snake-bastard to kill your own brother. Sentimental feelings made you lose sight of your purpose. And everything had been going just fine until Sakura showed her goddamn face. Growling inwardly, he stepped around the corner and he barely stopped his jaw from hitting the floor.

There were many, many tables, and many, many people, very, very diverse. The only thing they all shared was a Sound headband strapped across their forehead. None of them looked at ease being around so many others, but seemed to be handling it. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

He counted to ten.

Then he ran from the hall, all the way to his room, until he slammed the door behind him, panting.

Nope. He still couldn't handle it.

* * *

As Sasuke was lying on his bed two hours later, there was a neutral knock on his door. "Sasuke," Sakura said without waiting for a reply, "I left your food out here. You should probably come get it before one of those rodents crawling around here does." And that was that: Sakura's small footsteps padded away until she opened her door and shut it.

Sasuke was slightly amused. Those rodents had been _his _meal for some time now.

He got up and retrieved the food. He heated it up with a small Katon and took a tender bite.

There was a curious burning behind Sasuke's eyes. It tasted exactly like his mother's cooking.

* * *

**AN: No, this is not a sappy story where Sasuke realizes "OMG I SHOULDN'T BE EVIL". Don't worry. I have my failings, but I respect Sasuke and won't do that to him XD Anyway, this may evolve into a SasuSaku. I'm not sure. I might have to change the rating if I add in a lemon, which would be my first one ever. Chapters aren't prewritten, so what you say definitely has an influence. So, reviews would be nice :D I have thick skin, so don't be afraid to leave some con-crit. Also, I'm not beta'd, so if you spot some typos please point them out! Sakura's reasons will eventually be revealed... but who knows when? MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-hack-cough-anyway, thanks for reading!  
**


	2. Taunt

Sasuke collapsed, panting.

"Look at you, weakling," Orochimaru snarled. "You can't even kill the amount you killed yesterday! Surely the training isn't taking a _toll _on you! You tire much too quickly. Even Haruno, with her awful endurance, held out longer! In fact, these soldiers should be weak—she had to heal them! You'll never kill Itachi this way. It's more likely that Haruno will find him first!"

Sasuke swept an anguished glare his mentor's way. How _dare _he insinuate that he was worse than some girl. And he had killed more than yesterday. He'd _counted_. Why wasn't Orochimaru pleased? Not that Sasuke cared about Orochimaru's pleasure. But surely he could not be expected to go too far beyond his limits—

"Get up, _swine_."

That was it. That was the final straw. Sharingan whirling, Sasuke turned on Orochimaru, launching a vicious frontal attack with only kunai. How _dare _he insult the last Uchiha—how dare he! Sasuke didn't like the snake's change in attitude, ever since the girl had arrived. Orochimaru flickered and dodged the kunai immediately. Sasuke charged at him openly, his mind focused on one thought: _kill. Kill. Kill._ He drew back a fist—

Only to have it caught and squeezed to the point of breaking.

"If that's the best you could do against Itachi," Orochimaru's silky voice hissed, penetrating his skull, everywhere around him, "_You're…too…weak, Sasuke._" He released Sasuke's hand, letting the boy fall to the ground. "Your training will continue at this same time tomorrow." He left Sasuke lying there, clutching his hand, gritting his teeth and fighting back tears that he knew he couldn't cry.

* * *

"Sasuke, I've left your lunch in front of your door, when you care to go back in. Should I bring it out?"

…

"Okay. I'll be right back."

* * *

"Here's the food, Uchiha-san. Try to eat it eventually."

…

_Uchiha-san?_

* * *

"It's dinnertime. Here's your food. Eat it quickly so you don't attract any animals."

* * *

Sasuke awoke to realize that he was inside. The cold air was no longer slapping him in the face. There was noise other than the whistling wind, outside his door.

"Sasuke-kun missed his training today, so you may, if you wish, have another session."

"Thank you. He seemed a little ill when I last saw him."

"Kabuto performed an examination. It is exhaustion, nothing more. Now, will you come?"

"Yes."

Sasuke closed his eyes and slept once more.

* * *

"Ah, Sasuke-kun. I see you have decided to start training again."

…

"You did miss yesterday, you know."

…

"In fact, your friend was able to have a double—"

"Shut the fuck up and train me, you bastard."

* * *

_Knock. Knock. _

"I've left your dinner by your door."

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Silence.

"Aah! Aah! No, I hate you, leave me alone! Leave me alone, I'm done, I don't want to--"

Heavy pants, gasps. "Kabuto, she's delirious. Sedate her, for the love of Kami."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." Thump.

"Now we will see if she will survive. If she does... perhaps she will be fit for real training."

"Do you think it was wise to give this to her so soon?"

_BANG. CRASH._

"Ah, Sasuke-kun--"_  
_

"_What did you do to her_?!"

"Sa--"

"You've hurt her!"

"Sasuke--"

"She's--"

"SASUKE! She is merely receiving the curse seal. In fact, we were just about to ask you to watch her, since we have work, and--"

_Grab. Slam._

"Well, that seemed to work."

Laugh. "Uchihas. The possessive bastards."

* * *

Sasuke dabbed at Sakura's abnormally large forehead with a cold cloth. She was shivering wildly at the moment, only whites showing through her almost closed eyes. Sasuke knew that he should have left her to suffer. That was the best way to receive a curse seal: endure the most pain in your life ever, and come out stronger from it. But something feral in him had acted on its own. He remembered when she had been attacked by Gaara. He knew then that he could never watch another friend be hurt.

She's not my friend.

_Yeah, right._

She's not. I'm not allowed to have friends.

_Pfft. As if--_

I have no feelings other than hate.

_Really? It doesn't seem like this is helping you kill Itachi._

Sakura murmured barely audibly, "Sasuke..."_  
_

_Slam. _Sakura was coldly shoved out into the hall and left twitching and writhing on the floor in pain, unable to scream because of the sedative.

* * *

Five days later, Sasuke was coming back from training and noticed that Sakura was coming the opposite way, in full Sound attire-- an outfit much like his own, but green, with a Sound headband holding back her hair, which was also in a ponytail. Sasuke didn't miss the new mark on her neck. They slowly walked toward each other. Sakura's gaze was focused straight ahead.

When they passed each other, there was a sudden chill in the air. Both stopped in unison, still facing opposite ways.

"Lunch is in two hours, should you care to join us, Uchiha-san," Sakura said stiffly.

"..."

Sakura started to walk again.

"Sakura."

She stopped. Waited. But Sasuke had nothing to say, so she started walking away again. Sasuke stood until he couldn't hear her footsteps anymore, which, in the echoy halls of Orochimaru's base, was quite a long while.

* * *

**AN: Yeah. Sakura's not gonna be wildly in love with Sasuke either. At least not as much as she was before. At least not in the same way. Interpret Sasuke's actions however you want.  
**

**On a side note, this takes place before the meeting in Shippuden, just a few months after Sasuke joins Orochimaru. Therefore, he's not yet evolved into his totally emotionless self. Sakura seems to be halting his growth. And in case it's not clear, Sasuke stayed out there on the ground, curled up like that, while the middle conversations happened. He only goes back to his cell when he realizes he's inside.**

**Short chapter. Sorry. I have a lot of ideas, and it's difficult choosing which to use. Now, if all of you lovely people who put this on fav story and story alert, which I am very grateful for, could leave a review or two as to what you want to see, that would be awesome! :)**

**By the way, whenever there's a separator bar, it implies that there was a change in time.**

**Next chappy may be from Sakura's P.O.V!  
**


	3. Battle

Sasuke woke.

He screamed in pain, clutching at his shoulder where the curse seal was.

A similar scream echoed from the room next to him.

Curse seals began to crawl up his neck.

Through the agony, Sasuke realized that Sakura had never used the curse seal, and she probably had no idea how to control it. He ran out of his room, kicked down Sakura's door, and found her curled up in a fetal position, clutching at her neck on the opposite side his curse seal was on. She was biting her fist, blood openly flowing from it, as curse seals glowed orange around her neck and chest. "Sakura," Sasuke growled. "Drive it back. We have to help Orochimaru. He's in danger."

Sakura glared up at him through red, bleary eyes. Shakily, she uncurled her legs and attempted to stand, but she dropped. Groaning in frustration, Sasuke caught her. What now—Orochimaru or Sakura? Sakura made a second attempt and this time managed to support herself. "Go," she hissed out around her fist. Obviously, she was attempting not to bite her own tongue off. "I'll be right—agh—behind you!"

Sasuke complied, sprinting down the hall in the direction of Orochimaru's room. He eventually joined up with Kabuto, not a word exchanged as they hurried toward Orochimaru's office. Sasuke knew on the inside that Orochimaru's body might be dying—in which case he would need his new vessel, which would have to be Sasuke. He might have to give up his body that night. He didn't know if he was ready to do it.

The moment they turned into Orochimaru's hall, they knew their suspicions had been correct: it was a complete wreck, like a _bomb _had been dropped on it or something. The ceiling was out—the stars shone brightly in the night sky. A few meters away stood Orochimaru, breathing heavily, staring upwards. Kabuto and Sasuke followed his gaze and saw a sort of… _bird _in the sky. It circled once, then flew away.

Then Orochimaru fell to the ground, and Sasuke saw the real threat—there was a cloaked figure, very short, lying there, with something like a tail dripping venom.

"Kabuto, huh?" the figure rasped in a voice so rough it could sand metal. "You traitor."

"_Master_ Sasori," Kabuto responded, showing no hint of emotion. "You made it anyway."

Sasuke's eye twitched. Something here was extremely screwy.

--

There were heavy footfalls and steps behind them, and Sasuke knew it to be Sakura. She analyzed the situation quickly. One hostile, one injured Orochimaru, and two ready fighters, and one possible traitor. She gritted her teeth against the pain as the curse seals crept higher and higher up her, until they were caressing her cheek, growing eerily in the dark. "Guh—"

"So, Sasori, what bring you h—"

And the next thing anybody knew, that frightful tail was driving straight through Kabuto's chest, blood was splattering Sasuke's clothes, and Kabuto was impaled on it against what was left of the wall. There was complete silence as Kabuto let out a silent gag and spat blood, and then the tail withdrew and he slowly slid to the ground. Sakura's eyes widened a split second too late. "K—Kabuto-san—" She rushed over to him.

"The blade—is poisoned—" coughed Kabuto. "Antidote—I have one—in my room…"

"You'll bleed to death, and it went right through your—gah—your sternum!" Sakura placed her hands on his chest, kicking into medical-nin mode, and tried to flood chakra into her arms—but there was nothing. It was like something was blocking it…

"Curse—seal," Kabuto rasped. Sakura understood: while she had this activated, she couldn't access her healing chakra. She glanced around desperately, then got up and sprinted back into the base for the antidote. Kabuto's room was close to Orochimaru's, so she wouldn't have to go very far…

Sasori's tail made another lunge for her, but Sasuke was there, blocking the tail with his Chidori-enforced sword. And he was only blocking it—though Chidori usually went through weapons, this tail seemed to be fashioned out of something very strong. Sasuke finally activated his sharingan, so that he could see in the darkness of the bleak night. As of now, all he could see was an Akatsuki cloak and the tail, dripping venom, poised above it. He saw only a very concentrated blob of chakra in the middle, nothing more. How interesting. Obviously this guy had previous experience with the sharingan, to know how to block it so thoroughly; Sasuke had never heard of any material that could stop Sharingan, so the enemy must have carefully infused his cloak or whatever with special chakra.

"Sasuke Uchiha, is it?" the enemy—Sasori appeared to be his name—grated. "You're going to challenge me?"

Sasuke wordlessly kept the tail at bay as he paced forward to Orochimaru's limp form. He was alive; his chakras were traveling slowly but they were moving. He was breathing, too. He grabbed Orochimaru and threw him behind him, to where Kabuto was keeping a hand on his chest, applying pressure and attempting weakly to heal his sternum. Kabuto, as expected, hurriedly moved his hand to a gash on Orochimaru's shoulder, healing him instead.

Suddenly, Sasuke foresaw dozens of kunai flying at him. No sooner had he seen it than it actually happened—he raised his chidori sword quickly, blocking them or dodging them. When they were gone, he lowered his guard—only to get stabbed in the back. Falling to his knees, Sasuke saw an ever-so-thin chakra thread attached to said kunai. Gritting his teeth, he pulled out the kunai and forced the curse seals to recede. He formed hand seals and spat a fireball at Sasori, who apparently survived unscathed—however, the Akatsuki cloak burned away…

What was this?! He was… a puppet? But then where was the owner?

Sakura stumbled back into the hall, clutching several syringes. She immediately jabbed one into Kabuto's chest, and the other into Orochimaru. "How do I make these curse seals withdraw?!" she queried gruffly, replacing Kabuto's hand with hers and keeping pressure on the worst wounds of Orochimaru's.

Sasuke knew for a fact that the best way was to scare somebody out of his or her wits. He also knew that he couldn't waste his chakra too much, though. He had the sinking feeling that this was going to be a difficult battle, even for him. He swept his head around and stared right into Sakura's eyes, sharingan blazing.

In that moment, Sakura felt pure, unadulterated horror. She knew that that face, those eyes, could kill her in a second. Every hair on her body rose, and her eyes widened as her skin crawled. And slowly but surely, the curse seal decided it would be a good idea to go back into hiding and the marks receded. She dropped to her knees, breathing raggedly, but also relieved: the pain was gone. The moment she caught her breath, she pounced on Kabuto. It was logical—with him, who knew Orochimaru's medical conditions and body, the two of them could heal the master. Either way, Orochimaru wasn't the one with a hole in his chest. Chakra flooded her arms as she forced the sternum back into place. Kabuto grunted, obviously in pain. Sakura grabbed a bottle of water to wash away the blood—she couldn't see. It was a marvel Kabuto was alive. Judging by the damage, whatever hit him must have gone straight through. Then Sakura sensed the residue of medical chakra. Obviously, Kabuto had previously reinforced the spot with medical chakra, knowing where the enemy was going to strike. Sakura had to hand it to him. Kabuto had been tutoring her lately, but she'd never known it was possible to… she realized she was getting distracted, and refocused on the wound, moving several ribs back into place.

The genjutsu to terrify Sakura had taken too much out of Sasuke. He barely was able to avoid another attack by that infernal tail—it grazed his arm, creating a gash. Not good. He didn't know how long it took for the poison to take effect, but obviously—

"Three minutes," Sasori supplied. "Then you become immobilized. It'll take three days to actually kill you, but I don't intend to let you live that long." In a split second, thousands of senbon were hurtling Sasuke's way, no doubt also poisoned. Sasuke's eyes widened as he jumped back, wildly deflecting with his sword, but it wasn't enough: at the end of the barrage, three senbon stuck in nerves, damaging his left leg. "Hn. Funny. And I thought strength ran in the family, but apparently not. You are nothing compared to your older brother."

In a flash, Sasuke was next to the puppet, stabbing down with chidori. To his dismay, it only made a tiny crack, and one of the plates sprang off and knocked him away. Sasuke pulled himself up again, and stabbed once more. Sasori was not a close-range fighter, apparently. Most puppeteers weren't. "Tell me what you know about Itachi!" Sasuke demanded, sharingan whirling dangerously. There was definitely a chakra inside the puppet. Could the member be… _inside _the puppet?! Impossible! Sasuke stabbed down again, until suddenly his chidori stopped. "Wh—wha—" his muscles seized up, and he fell. His brain fogged. He couldn't send the signals to his body… his sharingan flickered and died, and the night mattered again; he couldn't make out anything. All he could see was the silhouette of the tail looming over him, then striking downwards—only to be slapped away by the bare arm of Sakura, gleaming with chakra. Sakura grabbed the tail and _swung the entire puppet _around, throwing it off into the distance. Immediately, Sakura pulled another antidote out of her cloak and jabbed a rather Sasuke with it.

"Come on," she urged, and Sasuke realized he could move again. "I've got three more antidotes left. The slightest graze can poison you. We have to take this guy down quickly."

Shaking his muscles loose, and choosing not to comment on Sakura's last feat of strength, Sasuke supplied, "I think he's inside the puppet. His chakra is all centered in there."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Inside the puppet? But that requires—WATCH OUT!" she dove to the ground, Sasuke following suit, just in time to dodge the tail. Both jumped up out of the trench (through where the ceiling had once been) and found themselves on a wide, open plane with several rocks and boulders strewn around. Nothing other than that to use to their advantage—no real cover, no nothing.

Neither Sakura nor Sasuke had been trained in working _with _somebody. The teamwork thing wasn't valued extremely highly here at Orochimaru's, and neither of them had done very well on the teamwork portion of Kakashi's bell test. In addition, they weren't exactly on the best terms. Therefore, they had to come up with a plan that involved them attacking in succession.

"His shell is very strong. My chidori can't pierce it. But, ah, judging by what you just did…" Sasuke looked away, not wanting to admit that Sakura might have an advantage over him in this one matter.

"Got it," Sakura smirked, pulling on her gloves. She started to charge, but Sasuke grabbed her wrist.

"Wait. He has a bunch of attacks up his sleeve"—they both dodged another onslaught of senbon—"Like that. You have to foresee his attacks somehow, or be extremely good at dodging."

"Fine then," Sakura snarled, pissed at being stopped. "We charge at once. You cover me." She reared up again, only to be halted once more.

"Sakura! Think. I can't deflect all of those senbon at once. We have to find another way to get in close."

"Hn," Sakura grunted. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. "Shadow clones. Make them."

"Ah, technically you should make it, as you'll have a better chance then of—"

"I…I haven't learned that technique yet," Sakura muttered, and this time she was the one to look away. Sasuke barely managed to stop his eyes from rolling as he formed the correct seal and created two clones, not wanting to waste his chakra. After all, he had never been known for his endurance. If he used up energy too quickly, he'd have to release the curse seal, and then things would get nasty.

"Distraction, now," Sasuke said curtly. "Put up some dust to hide while I switch with my clones."

"With pleasure," Sakura grinned, and drove her fist into the ground, leaping back.

The dirt cracked, dust flying up, while Sasuke and his clones hurriedly switched so that the real one was now on the right. "Go!" he hissed, and started running, Sakura behind him.

They sprinted toward Sasori. Senbon and kunai flew—Sasuke twirled and dodged enough to throw off the path of kunai so they wouldn't hit Sakura. Then his sharingan foresaw something that would definitely be troublesome. "Hold your breath!" he called, and sucked in air before the poison gas came. Then he ran straight into a solid wall, and the wind was promptly knocked out of him. His eyes widened, and he grabbed Sakura by the neck of her uniform and literally threw her out of the cage as he did what he always did in cases of panic: full body chidori. Some of the poison gas cleared away just in time for him to see that there were strange wooden threads encasing him. However, in all probability, Sakura was going with one of his clones and getting ready to smash the shell, not knowing that he was the real one. The poison came back, filled his nose, and it was all Sasuke could do not to inhale, and he was just about to, when—

BANG. The cage splintered around him like so many matchsticks, and something grabbed _him _by the outfit and was yelling, "Come on, Uchiha, get up, we're almost there!"

Sasuke stumbled to his feet and started in front of Sakura again, eyes focusing on the target, who was caught off guard by his escape. His clone was now right next to him—the second clone had probably gotten killed—and they covered Sakura as there was an endless barrage of weapons. Then Sakura was leaping into the air, bringing her fist down into the shell, and—

There was silence but for a high pitched screaming noise in Sasuke's ear. The world was collapsing around him, but he couldn't hear a thing. Someone grabbed him—a flash of pink hair, some sort of hazel eyes—and she was saying something, but he couldn't hear, just see her lips move. Then, with a _pop_, the world came back and Sakura was saying, "managed to smash it, but it looks like something hit you in the head—you're bleeding—here, gimme a moment"—and the ache in his head subsided. He realized there was a piece of shell embedded in Sakura's shoulder and nodded at it. She looked at it in surprise, then shrugged (wincing) and pulled it out, healing the wound as she did so. She grinned at him. _Grinned. _

And then a huge poison spike flew right into her gut.

Blood and all sorts of innards he didn't want to know about splattered Sasuke. Sakura's eyes were wide, her grin slowly fading, as she looked down at her stomach. She pulled out the spike.

And then her eyes rolled back and she collapsed, dropping on the ground with a _thump._

"That was for destroying my puppet," Sasori was saying. His voice seemed slightly higher. He was cloaked, though, just a dark figure on the horizon. "I'll deal with you pathetic idiots some other time. I took too long. Someone's waiting for me." And then a huge white bird flew out of the sky, picked him up, and carried him away in a flash.

* * *

**AN: Yay. Action chapter. Sorry for being so slow with updates. D8**


	4. Hokage's Technique

**Explanation: The moment I uploaded this crappy chapter, I had a brain flash and promptly deleted it and added quite a bit on to it. So sorry for spamming your inbox :D**

"Quick," a voice urged from behind Sasuke. He whirled. It was Kabuto. "Lend me chakra! She'll… what is this?" Kabuto referred to the strangest seal spreading all across Sakura—it wasn't the curse seal; it was a deep lilac and too curved and majestic. "Where have I seen this…either way, I have to go in now." He was pulling the hole in Sakura wider, not caring about the blood splattering his hands, then his brow furrowed. "It would appear that… her vital parts, like her bladder, are… regrowing. This is…"

"Orochimaru-sama," Sasuke prodded. "How is he?"

"Conscious, but not moving yet. He will live. However, that's probably not going to be the case with Sakura-chan here, unless you place your hands on top of mine and give me chakra!"

Sasuke knelt and did so, trying to ignore the fact that he was sticking his hands in somebody's innards. The organs were indeed regrowing, and the sudden burst of chakra just aided them on their way. "I remember now!" Kabuto snapped. "This is the seal the Fifth Hokage uses to preserve her youth. She used it when Orochimaru-sama nearly managed to kill her. She must have taught it to Sakura-chan… it's sure saving her life. I can handle it from now."

"I'll go find out what happened from Orochimaru," Sasuke muttered, drawing his gore-covered hands away and wiping them on his pants in disgust. He ambled over to the trench where the hallway once was and where Orochimaru was still lying. He squatted next to the snake, whose eyes met his as he gave a weak grin.

"What quarrel do you have with Akatsuki?" Sasuke queried without a hint of emotion.

"You don't need to know," Orochimaru responded, his disgusting smile growing.

In a split second Sasuke was angrily holding his sword against Orochimaru's throat. "I want to know, and I _will _know, or it will cost you your life," he hissed.

Orochimaru cackled, and Sasuke had to restrain himself from tightening his muscles and cutting straight through the snake. "I was once part of Akatsuki," he hacked. "Sasori was my partner. When I deserted, I hardly left without taking anything. It doesn't matter. He has retrieved his possession. He caught me by surprise." He paused then turned his head upward, as Sasuke pulled the blade away. "My arms, it seems, do not work. The third's curse carries. Thus, I was unable to defend myself from those kunai. He is gone now, correct?"

Sasuke stood up and looked out. Kabuto was still leaning over Sakura, a cold sweat on his forehead. "Yes. He is gone now," Sasuke confirmed. He had a sudden urge to kick Orochimaru, but restrained him. It would not help kill Itachi, so what was the point?

He turned heel and strode back into the lair.

* * *

Sakura healed. In fact, she healed so much that she was perfectly prepared to immediately punch Kabuto when she woke up, out of complete reflex.

It was because when she had woken up, she saw Kabuto, and in him she saw an enemy. What was she doing in this snake's lair? For a moment, she forgot all her motives and saw only the slimy, traitor Kabuto.

Then she regained herself and promptly apologized as Kabuto healed his cut lip, then checked her over one time. "So," he said nonchalantly, "You picked up the Fifth's technique."

"Yes."

"You must have learned quite a bit from her."

"I did. But not enough. And Jiraiya refused to teach me anything, claimed it wasn't his place."

"So you came to the third legendary sannin?"

"Yes. And it has proved more resourceful, these few weeks, than two years under the Fifth."

"I'm interested in that technique. In our next session, you can explain the fundamentals to me. As of now, Orochimaru-sama has requested that he see you—"

"Orochimaru!" Sakura gasped. "Is he well? What _happened _there?"

"I'll explain later," Kabuto said irritably. "As of now, just go and see him."

"…Fine," Sakura grumbled, and stalked out of the medical bay, ripping off the bandage on her arm as she did so. She turned suddenly.

"By the way, Kabuto, you do have a lot of explaining to do. Why did you know that guy's poison? Why were you so familiar with him? Think about your answers carefully." Then she strode out of the room for good and disappeared from sight.

* * *

Four figures stood on a mountaintop, gazing over the fields below. There was a hole below them-- a sort of trench.

They leaped down.

"This is it. It's Orochimaru's scent. They're probably gone from here by now, but they _were _here."

"Yeah... _her_ scent... it's still here. She--she was alive."

"Let's go. I'll follow my nose and we'll find them, wherever they are."

"Yeah! Let's do this!

* * *

Sasuke plodded toward the training hall. He hadn't been injured, and had been training on his own. Orochimaru had only recently recovered, and refused to do any teaching, wanting to wait until Sakura woke up for some reason. He entered the hall, and froze at the sight.

Orochimaru was on the ground, and Sakura was leaning over him, bangs fallen over her eyes, and blood in her hair.

Sasuke moved quickly. He activated a relatively weak chidori, and it crackled around his palm. It should be enough to knock out the assaulter. In a second, his hand was at her throat.

"You have one second to explain yourself," he hissed.

"Oh, get your hand away," Sakura grated. "I'm healing him. You make too many assumptions."

"I was under the impression that he was already healed."

"Moron," Sakura continued, not looking up from her work even with the chakra at her throat. "I'm healing his arms. Surely you noticed he's used no hand signs ever since the invasion on Konoha? The third sealed his arms. I'm healing them."

"You're attempting to reverse the work of a hokage?" Sasuke raised his eyebrows, ignoring the fact that he had not actually noticed Orochimaru's lack of hand signs.

"I was able to copy the technique of the most renowned medical kunoichi there is. I can try to do this, although I doubt I'll make much progress unless you _remove your hand_," Sakura groused.

Sasuke did so, but narrowed his eyes. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"You'll know when Orochimaru-sama wakes up without the use of his arms and gets angry at _you_," Sakura responded.

"Then you won't mind if I watch you," Sasuke asserted.

"Not at all. Just don't say anything or breathe down my neck," Sakura responded in kind. "In fact, if you wish to be helpful, you could pull his skin taut on his arm while I slice it open…"

* * *

**AN: Yep. I have the gall to make you guys wait more than a week, with a cliffhanger, and then give you this crappy short filler chapter. I have a lot of ideas, but I'm having trouble getting them into the story, plus I had a bit of writer's block, plus exams and....yeah. Sorry. I'll try to be more diligent with updates.**

**In the next chapter, Sasuke and Sakura meet some old friends...  
**


	5. Old Friends

**I'd like to clear up that Sakura left shortly after Naruto came back-- they had not yet had the Shippuden Sasuke encounter. Just so that our time frames are straight. Anyway, this was a bit of deja vu, writing it after seeing the Sasuke encouner.**

* * *

_Crash. Bang. _

Sasuke awoke to find four very unwelcome figures standing in his room. And he really did not like waking up to such things.

"YOU!" Naruto seized Sasuke's shirt, bringing him up to face him (Sasuke was a little shorter than him) until they were close enough to feel each other's breath. "What have you done with Sakura?!" Sasuke merely tilted his head and exhaled, letting hot air out at Naruto. "Where is she?! TELL ME!" Naruto wildly shook him, as if that would get a better answer out of Sasuke—

"I'm right here, Naruto."

Naruto stopped, and suddenly all the breath was gone from him. He slowly turned around, unconsciously letting go of Sasuke's shirt. There, in the doorway, stood Sakura, in sound attire, her hair tied up in a bun behind her, and dark circles under her formerly bright green eyes. Her hand was gently placed on her waist. "S—Sakura chan…" He was prepared to yell 'We're going to save you!' but realized, with the look in her eye, that she was not a prisoner.

"Forehead!" Ino exclaimed, shocked. "Y—you're…"

Sakura surveyed the room coldly. Naruto in front of Sasuke, Kakashi right inside the doorway, Ino off to the side gnawing at her fists, and Rock Lee behind Sasuke ready to knock him out. She could see there was only one way out of this—get more space. There was not enough room in Sasuke's cramped habitat. She raised her fist.

The next thing anybody knew, they were all flying back, and there was no wall to catch them. Or rather, there was one, but it was a lot further back and made of rock. When the smoke cleared, there were two figures left standing in the center of the clearing: Sasuke and Sakura.

"Have you gotten a little taller, Naruto?" Sakura mused idly.

"S—snap out of it! Both of you!" Ino wailed, wincing as she peeled herself off the wall. "What's gotten into you? You're not Sakura!"

"Look, I just woke up after an intensely difficult healing. Don't piss me off. Why are you here?" Sakura asked.

"To save you!"

"Clearly, I'm not in need of saving."

"She couldn't have said it better," a silky voice chuckled from behind Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto's eyes widened in fury.

"Orochimaru! I hate you! You—you've taken my dearest friends away from me!"

"No. Rather, it seems that you drove them away, no? I merely asked Sasuke-kun to come here. Sakura-chan came entirely of her own accord."

"Sakura would never do that!" Rock Lee declared. "You will pay for such lies!" He launched into a sudden leaf hurricane, hurtling toward Orochimaru—only to be blocked by Sakura, who had moved in front of Orochimaru and grabbed Lee's leg. She used his momentum to swing him back toward the wall.

"Orochimaru-sama," she said dryly. "I told you to rest for a while. That healing took a toll on your body."

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan," Orochimary hissed gleefully, "But I couldn't miss this lovely reunion."

Kakashi stepped back in surprise. _This _was the weak, fangirl student he had failed to be able to train? He knew she had gotten stronger under Tsunade, but that timing, it was impeccable. There was already a huge gap between her abilities when they had last sparred and her abilities now. Also, by the gods, she was strangely beautiful—like she'd matured both physically and mentally. And "the healing"? What exactly did that mean? And Sasuke? Well, there was an _aura _radiating from him. He hadn't even said anything yet, but—

Sasuke turned toward him. "Kakashi, huh?" he uttered. "You can already see this battle should not be fought. You can only lose. Go away."

"Sasuke-kun," Ino murmured, in utter awe. Obviously, she too felt the aura.

Naruto didn't look very affected. In fact, he was rolling up his sleeve to perform hand signs. Sakura interrupted him: "Naruto, didn't you hear what he said? I don't want to hurt you. Don't bother."

"You're underestimating my abilities," Naruto snarled, and he too charged Orochimaru—

Only to receive a gloved Sakura fist in the gut and go flying back, blood spurting from his mouth. "Naruto!" Ino cried, and immediately ran over to him, healing chakra flooding her hands. Naruto coughed more blood.

"You're still charging wildly?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow. "By the way, are you really done training with Jiraiya? Because it doesn't seem like he's done much."

"But why would you do such a thing?!" Rock Lee exclaimed. "What excuse could you have for betraying our village?"

"You don't need to know that information," Sakura responded.

"Sakura!" Ino cried. "J—just stop!"

She got up from healing Naruto and ran towards Sakura, full on.

Kakashi's eyes widened, he moved to stop her but not quick enough—

And Ino threw her arms around Sakura in a tight embrace.

Sakura stood very still as Ino sobbed into her shoulder. "Please, please Sakura, don't leave me. I—I can't bear to lose another person. You're my friend, let the old Sakura come back, please! I—I'm sorry if it was my fault, I'll do anything, just don't do this! Come back! I promise, I'll never—I'll never—how could you leave without telling me?"

Sakura slowly lifted her hand to Ino's back and whispered something in her ear—

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Was she really going to be turned so—

--and as Sakura sent a burst of chakra through her arms, Ino collapsed on the ground. Sakura picked her up and tossed her against the wall.

Kakashi reeled. Okay, this was definitely not the Sakura he remembered. Things were not going as planned. They were supposed to burst into Sakura's room, grab her, and run for it. He hadn't considered the possibility that Sakura left of her own accord. And now they were down one medical nin. When had good old Sakura-chan become such a ruthless person?

Well, not entirely ruthless. Kakashi could see that Ino was merely unconscious. He lifted up his forehead protector and revealed his sharingan.

"Don't do it, Kakashi," Sasuke warned.

Kakashi knew he couldn't just leap in, unlike the other three. Why had he agreed to take them, anyway? He should have known they would be the most eager and emotionally compromised. In fact, he had tried to leave on his own, just to gather information, but Naruto was right there at the gate waiting for him with an indignant look in his eye. "You weren't really going to go rescue Teme and Sakura without me, were you?" They were just stepping out when Ino and Rock Lee showed up simultaneously. "We're coming too," they'd asserted. Kakashi had tried several times to lose them, but these chuunin were his responsibilities now. What a bother. He admitted perhaps he should have spoken to them about how to handle Sasuke and Sakura, but he was too busy sulking. He supposed they would have gone on their own and possibly followed him anyway.

The situation: Naruto half-healed, Ino unconscious, Rock Lee bruised but able. "Lee," Kakashi called, noticing that he was about to charge again, "We need a plan."

--

Five minutes later, Lee was out cold, having been knocked against the wall by Sakura. Kakashi had been helpless to protect him, seeing as Sasuke's sword was currently at his throat. Kakashi focused his gaze on Sasuke's sandals. _Don't look into his eyes._

"Well, that was quick," Sakura was saying. Orochimaru was cackling madly, laughing. Kakashi did not want that to be the last thing he ever heard. He raised his gaze very slightly, but not enough to look into Sasuke's eyes.

"Are you really going to kill me, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked. "You've sunk so low. One man is not worth your whole life."

The pressure of the sword at his neck increased. "One man?! This is my whole clan! I think that the lives of every single Uchiha is worth mine!"

"Orochimaru won't help you kill Itachi or bring back the clan. He'll just use your body for his own purposes. Why do you trust him and not me?!"

"It almost seems like you're jealous, Kakashi-_sensei_," Sasuke smirked, and the blade cut deep…

…and the shadow clone which Sasuke had been fighting the whole time poofed into nothingness. The next second, Sasuke felt himself being pulled underground until only his head was sticking out, entirely immobilized. Kakashi whirled; Sakura was on him. He leaped aside, making hand seals, and spewed a blast of water at her, knocking her down. Sasuke was angrily squirming, trying to make his way out. Sakura rolled and leaped up again, pink hair sopping wet. She growled and made hand signs as well. Kakashi analyzed what her move would be and was astonished—Sakura didn't know nature manipulation or shape manipulation yet! When he'd last seen her, she was still advancing her academy jutsu! Furthermore, that move was… well, even _he _had some difficulty with it, and it had taken the only two other people who knew it ages to learn… but sure enough, Sakura gave a feral grin and hissed, "Rasengan!"

And then her hand was grabbed and the wind forming in her palm flickered away. She glared up to Orochimaru. Kakashi's eyes widened. Weren't Orochimaru's arms still supposed to be cursed?! How the hell could he move and block chakra?

"There's no need to go that far," Orochimaru said silkily. "You shouldn't waste your chakra like that, especially after a strenuous healing. You're trying too hard to impress your old sensei."

Of course. Sakura…she had some how figured out how to heal the snake. The work of a hokage—and Sakura had completely reversed it. This made Orochimaru more dangerous than ever. Why hadn't he launched another attack yet, anyway? He definitely could. And Sakura's growth in medical jutsu shown by this was more than impressive. _My old students… what's become of them?_

Sakura glanced at Kakashi and her grin came back. "Surprised, Kakashi-sensei? I had access to many scrolls in my time under Tsunade. I found the Reaper Death Seal's scroll, and studied how to reverse it. With a bit of extra chakra, it was only a matter of doing it, with control like mine."

"And the rasengan?" Kakashi asked, eyes narrowed.

"Orochimaru-sama has been teaching me nature and shape manipulation—since I was the _only one who never learned it_. It seems you didn't have much faith in me, Kakashi."

That Orochimaru had done this to the student in which he had seen no jutsu potential whatsoever… he was truly a master. Well, he was a Sannin, just like Tsunade and Jiraiya—so he should have expected it.

Next thing Kakashi knew, a sword had been shoved through his chest from the back. He looked behind him—sure enough, Sasuke had made it out. A sneer painted his lips, utter satisfaction. Then his face twisted as he realized that Kakashi was, in fact, a log. "Substitution," he snarled, before there was a kick to his back, and he went flying forward. Wait, Kakashi didn't have that kind of power… Bushy-brows! With the speed he was known for, Lee navigated around and kicked Sasuke again, then followed up with several punches. A few blows later, Sakura caught his fist, but before she could punch him, somebody grabbed _her_ by the shoulder and twisted her around. She found herself face-to-face with blue eyes and sunny blond hair.

"Sakura-chan, I don't know what they've done to you, but I have to bring you back so that Granny can heal you. I'll do whatever it takes to save you!"

"You idiot, Naruto," Sakura growled, shaking herself use and shoving Naruto away, then continuing her move on Lee, only to be stopped when Lee too punched her.

"Sakura, my blossom! I am so sorry!" Lee cried, but continued. He was practically crying as he continued his flurry of punches. Sakura tried to roll away, but Naruto was behind her, holding her tight. Then—

"Fireball jutsu!" Lee's touch disappeared, and Sakura herself was almost singed by a wall of flames. She whirled and used the distraction from Sasuke to elbow Naruto into the wall, landing a round kick to back it up. Naruto hit hard, and rocks started falling down on his head. Kakashi, out of nowhere, reappeared and pulled him out. There was, however, definitely a more serious matter to attend to. Lee lay on the ground, a huge burn covering the greater part of his body, only a bit of his left side left untouched. Knowing there was no time to waste, Kakashi grabbed Lee and sped him to the place where Ino still lay, and promptly smacked her twice on the cheek. Ino lazily woke, then looked around. She glanced to her side and let out a scream of horror, immediately beginning to heal Lee.

Naruto was bruised and bleeding, but he was still fighting, and so the tired but untouched Kakashi also joined in, trying to take out his two students, all while being watched by the one who corrupted them.

--

Ino's hands shook as she furtively pumped what chakra she had into Lee's body. This was _bad. _She'd lost her med kit in the explosion; it was probably buried beneath tons of rock. The burns laced around Lee's body were a mix of second and third degree, blisters and destroyed nerves. At least the pain wasn't as great. Furthermore, Lee was used to destroying his body with his gates of opening, so he would be more tolerant of pain…still, it was good that he was unconscious. Heart rate was rapid. Ino know she couldn't possibly heal every one of the burns; she had to focus on avoiding infection as much as possible and healing up places where the bone stuck through. Sasuke had done this…no. She had to keep her mind off the battle and the two people she cared most about. Lee's chakra was barely pushing back… he needed serious medical surgery with ointments and real surgeon ninja. He needed Tsunade. Already infections were brewing and Lee was spiking a fever. Tears ran down Ino's cheeks and her hands shook as she pumped useless chakra into the dying body, her hands covered in gore and blood. She was failing to protect her friends, again. Ino continued to expel chakra, desperately, but part of her knew there was nothing more she could do. Lee started shivering.

Ino stopped. The main source of infection was his arm, which had gotten the worst hit, almost all third-degree. The only option to stop it was…amputating it. The only way to save Lee. It wasn't her decision, damnit! She couldn't! What if she was wrong, what if there was some other way? Besides, Lee without his arm would be… devastated. He couldn't be a ninja that way. But this wasn't Ino's decision to make… and yet, she had to act quickly before the infections spread too much!

"K—Kakashi-sensei!" she cried desperately. He would know what to do. But the moment Kakashi even glanced her way, he suffered another blow. There was no time. Ino couldn't rely on him. She needed Asuma, she needed… Shikamaru. Yes, even Shikamaru…he always knew the right decision. At least he had guts! How did he do it? He analyzed… but Ino had never been good at analyzing!

She took a breath. Without a doubt, Lee—the patient—would die without the amputation. There was no way for her to possibly get to Konoha in time to get a real consult. Additionally, if she did perform the amputation, Lee's life as a ninja would be over. There was also a chance that even if she performed the amputation, the shock or other causes would kill the patient.

If only Ino could ask him! It was his right to choose!

Then Ino realized, she could ask him. She had been walking in minds before she could physically walk. Though it had been a while since she practiced her jutsu, she could do this. Ino looked around. Naruto and Kakashi were holding out—it would be long enough. Ino focused herself, framed Lee's head with her hands, and began the mind transfer jutsu.

She entered the mind and screamed in pain, doubling over. She had forgotten that she felt what Lee felt—and dear god it hurt! Even if she couldn't feel her arm, the rest of her was screaming—

Ino gritted her teeth. Her purpose. She had to remember her purpose. She smacked Lee awake. Lee seemed startled for a moment that he was a prisoner in his own mind, but Ino cut in before he could say anything.

"Lee, you're in mortal danger. I have to amputate your arm. It is the only way you will live. Do you understand, Lee?" she tried not to bite her own tongue off; at the moment she was taking all of Lee's pain and it REALLY hurt. "Lee!" he was fading, falling unconscious again—"LEE! No! Lee!"

It was no use. Lee's mind couldn't function.

The decision was hers.

Ino left Lee's consciousness, flooding back into her own body, and took a deep breath.

She flooded her hand with medical chakra, creating a scalpel, and swiped downward.

Then something hit her in the head and everything went black.


	6. Grief

Ino awoke to bright lights and the smell of cleanliness. She hadn't opened her eyes yet, but by the way the light was burning through her retinas, she knew she was in the place she usually was: the hospital. Except…she didn't have any patients, did she?

"She's awake, Tsunade-sama," a nervous voice said.

Ino opened her eyes and blinked a few times until Tsunade's large chest and blonde hair came into view. She was leaning over her, looking somewhat concerned. "How do you feel, Ino?"

Groaning, she struggled to sit up. There was a stabbing pain in her head. "Pretty lousy," Ino replied truthfully. Her voice was somewhat hoarse. "Why am I here?"

There was a pregnant pause, as though Tsunade was debating whether to tell her the truth or not. Ino didn't see why there was such an issue… "You were…knocked out. By a…lightning-based jutsu. While healing."

"Was I on a mission?" Ino asked. Her memories were hazy, not quite wanting to come to the surface yet.

Tsunade looked down. "Yes."

"Did it…succeed in spite of my mistake?"

"…no. It wasn't your fault."

"What was my mission?"

Tsunade turned her head, tight-lipped. "You should rest. It's good that you're okay." She got up and started to walk out of the room.

"Tsunade-sama!" Ino cried as sharply as she could. "I think I have a right to know, with all due respect! Whose lightning-based jutsu? Who was I healing?!"

Tsunade stopped, her back still to Ino. "The technique was Sasuke Uchiha's." She continued to walk away, leaving Ino alone and reeling.

--

Ino, still in her medical gown, burst out to the reception desk, yelling at the poor soul sitting behind it. "Where is Rock Lee?! Tell me now!"

"M—ma'am," the boy stuttered, "Y—you should b-be resting…"

"Screw that! Tell me, in which room is Rock Lee?! And while you're at it, tell me the date!"

"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to return to your room, you're disturbing other patients." Sure enough, everybody in the lobby was staring at the blonde girl in the skimpy gown.

A doctor came at her with a syringe, no doubt filled with a sedative. Ino knocked him away. "Listen, if you don't tell me right now I will kick your ass so badly you won't be able to sit for a week! I have to know!"

More doctors, rushing around. Ino punched each one, keeping them at bay, breaking syringes when possible.

"I—I'm calling security!" said the frightened boy.

"Just tell me what I want to know!" Ino pleaded. The boy seemed to take pity on her for a moment and searched through some files.

"Ma'am, there is no patient currently under our care named Rock Lee," he scowled. "The last time he was here was three days ago. And it is the third of April."

Ino was so shocked that she finally let a doctor stab her. Through her darkening mind, she thought, _April third?! When we arrived at Orochimaru's base, it was the thirty-first of March. I was out for three days. It also means… Lee was released the day he arrived…_ and then Ino could no longer make sense of anything as she collapsed and slept.

--

The next time Ino woke, the doctors told her, somewhat grudgingly (okay, so she had broken one of their arms. What was the big deal?!) that she was to be released today, the fourth of April. If she experienced any dizziness, fatigue, head pains, or—

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I work here too, you know. Can I go now?" Ino groused.

The main doctor harrumphed and signed the release form.

The first thing Ino did was sprint to Tsunade's office in the hokage's building. She burst in without knocking. Tsunade looked up sharply and glared.

"Have you ever heard of knocking, Ino?! By the way, your behavior in the hospital was unacceptable. I had to cover your ass so they wouldn't diagnose you with psychosis."

"It's not my fault they wouldn't tell me anything," Ino grumbled. Then she grew completely serious. "What happened during the mission? Why aren't Sasuke and Sakura back with us?"

"You were knocked out by Sasuke's Chidori Nagashi. Towards the middle of it all, Naruto started going Kyuubi. Sasuke did…something. I don't know how, but he managed to suppress it. Naruto collapsed, and he was out for the count. Kakashi got exhausted; he had to resort to his new mangekyou sharingan and was able to injure Sasuke to the point where Sakura"—Tsunade's fists clenched—"had to heal him. In the end, Orochimaru used his arms"—the fist tightened—"to teleport them out of that base. Kakashi sent word to us with Pakkun. You were out for three days. Kakashi told me Sakura"—this time Tsunade practically flinched—"did something to you with her chakra, so that you stayed out longer. Either way, Naruto and Kakashi are beating themselves up but fine."

"Where's Rock Lee?"

Tsunade gazed at her for a very long time, and Ino had a feeling she already knew the answer. She stepped back in horror. "No," she said quietly. But Tsunade nodded.

"Ino, you did the correct thing, the only thing you could have done. The amputation was successful, and the infection didn't spread from that arm. However, there was another infection in his foot which all of us caught too late. It spread, and…well, that combined with the blood loss…

"You'll find him in the morgue."

--

Ino never did like the color black. In fact, she detested it. It was so lifeless. She thought that to honor the dead, people should wear many colors, to show that…well…she didn't know what it would show. But black was too depressing, and it didn't honor the dead person's memory.

However, she had conformed to society for once and pulled on a long black skirt and tank top. But the bandages, invisible under her skirt, were green, purple, and yellow. Just to be a little rebellious.

As she laid a flower on the gravestone, the best one she could find, and walked away, Ino stayed silent. She had never liked Bushy-Brow. He looked creepy, was a complete dork, and just plain weird. But he was a loyal friend who never, ever gave up, and that was something to value. While Ino had stood on the sidelines, Lee had acted, doing his best to bring back his crush and rival. He didn't deserve death. Ino was the pathetic one who couldn't make a decision. If she had acted quicker, maybe Lee would still be alive. The thought wrenched her heart, and tears started running down her cheeks. It was all she could do to stay silent. "I'm sorry," she whispered, then went and took her place by Shikamaru, Chouji and Asuma.

She didn't know what she'd do if she lost them. She couldn't even handle the thought. Yes, Asuma annoyed her to hell with his smoking, Chouji with his gluttony, and Shikamaru with his laziness. She liked to think they needed her to keep them in line, but who was she kidding? She could barely keep herself in line. But these people had formed who she was, had helped her get over Sasuke, had helped her gain the courage to find Sakura. They were as much family as her father, who had taught her how to walk in minds.

Ino couldn't bear to look at Gai, who had dropped to his knees in front of Lee's grave and started sobbing with abandon.

--

"Rock Lee of the Leaf is dead," Orochimaru said with a sickly smile as Sakura and Sasuke stood in front of him. He carefully watched Sakura's expression. There was no visible change in the dark. "That's what I've heard from my spies, at any rate. However, Naruto and Kakashi are perfectly fine. I suppose I shouldn't have assumed you were powerful enough to hurt them. There's still a lot of training you have to do."

Sakura's fists clenched and Sasuke let out a "hn" of dismay.

"Well then, now that you are both here…" Orochimaru purred, "I have a mission for you."

Sasuke said suspiciously, "Mission? You've never given us missions before."

"You are still sound nin, both of you. Sound nin go on missions. Besides… this is a mission I would only trust four people to do: Kabuto and myself, or you two. And since Kabuto is…preoccupied…"

"What are we to do?"

"Your missions start out as separate. Sakura, you will infiltrate Akatsuki and retrieve a ring that I left there during my time serving with them. Sasuke, you will infiltrate Sand and get a similar ring that once belonged to the second Kazekage. I hear they have a new one, by the way, an acquaintance of yours… Sabaku Gaara, no?"

"…"

"Anyway, you will then rendezvous in Kumo, where you will capture the one known as Killer Bee. He is a Jinchuuriki. If you can't, kill him. The Akatsuki has its eyes on him. However, you two will not be able to defeat him alone. You will need the assistance of another Jinchuuriki. If I remember correctly, you are quite familiar with…two. Gaara and your old friend, Naruto-kun. Either way, you will need to use a Jinchuuriki to fight the Jinchuuriki."

Sakura tensed.

"Is there a problem, Sakura-chan?"

"No," Sakura said stiffly. "But I do not know where Akatasuki's lair is."

"Well then, you'll just have to find them, won't you?"

Sasuke reasoned, "It would make more sense for us to do the opposite missions. It's not yet known in Suna that Sakura has left Konoha, and I'm more apt at finding Akatsuki since I've dealt with them before."

"As if I will let you anywhere near Itachi Uchiha," Orochimaru cackled. "This is how I want it, and this is how it will be done. Here are the scrolls with the details. You leave the day after tomorrow."

--

Sakura banged on her wall.

No answer.

BANG.

No answer.

BANG.

No—"What do you want? You can come and go as you please, there's no seal. Orochimaru never put one on in this base."

"I want to talk to you. Get closer to the wall or come into my room."

Sasuke reluctantly inched closer to the wall.

"Let's switch our missions anyway. I feel like going to sand, and I have no idea how to find Akatsuki."

"Orochimaru will know."

"But—"

"Sakura, he'll _know._"

"Hmph." There was a silence. "Fine then, can you tell me how to find them?"

Sasuke sighed. He just wanted to sleep. "Their cloaks are red and black. I imagine you should find and follow them."

"It could take a really long time for me to find them."

"They're going after Jinchuuriki. Think."

"So you're saying if I find a Jinchuuriki, I'll find Akatsuki?"

"Hn."

"But which one? They'll probably go after the lowest level ones first, right?"

"Aa."

"Therefore, they'll probably go after Gaara. The one-tails."

"Hn."

"Which means I'll be in Suna too."

"Hn."

"Which means I might _accidentally_ uncover the ring while you track Gaara and accidentally stumble upon Akatsuki, after which we will use Gaara to do the dirty work with the Hachibi."

"Hn."

"Does that mean 'sounds good, Sakura, whatever you say' or 'you're a complete moron and here's why?'"

"…"

"Say something."

"…"

And then Sakura's fist slammed right through the paper-thin wall and grabbed Sasuke's arm. As the dust cleared, Sakura tore the hole open. Sasuke was so shocked he forgot to pull away his arm. "Look, bastard," Sakura was saying, "We have to work together. Surely if you could work with _Naruto _you can work with me." Sasuke went rigid. They hadn't spoken of Naruto or Konoha at all. It was a sort of silent agreement. There were painful memories for both of them—they'd both had second thoughts about leaving, and mentioning their friend, their greatest reason not to leave, just confused them. They were here. That was all that mattered. "So talk to me, Sasuke."

"I just did."

Sakura snorted. "Bullshit! I meant something more than single syllable words and maybe something more than two measly sentences and "hn"s! We're on the same side, believe it or not. We're both being trained by Orochimaru. We can help each other."

Sasuke angrily shook off her hand. "I told Naruto this, and I'll say the same thing to you. I have to break bonds. I can't gain them. We can work as allies, but nothing more. Shinobi are tools—"

"Wh"—Sakura spluttered—"You thought I was coming on to you? Idiot! I just thought maybe we could cover each other's weaknesses. There's no bond required. For example, I could mention that you time your genjutsu badly. Hell, we could spar sometimes."

"Spar?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "You consider yourself to be at my level?"

"Sasuke, by sparring with you I would learn, so that I _could _be. Of course you'll beat me to crap the first few times. It doesn't matter. I have a high pain register after the curse seal." There was another touchy subject: the curse seal. Did she remember how she'd been thrown out? Something told Sasuke she did. Still, her words made him angry.

"You will never be. You don't know the pain that solitude brings. You—"

"Give me a break, Sasuke! My being here proves that I know solitude. Do you think it was easy for me to leave my village behind? It may have been for you since you'd already lost everything, but I had it all for longer than you did—and I had to tear myself away now! So don't give me that shit! You know nothing about me! I have a goal too."

"Why, then?" Sasuke had wanted to know ever since she'd arrived. "Why the hell are you here? Why did you have to come and interrupt?!"

"That's none of your business," Sakura snarled. "My point is, get the hell off your high horse. Orochimaru said it himself: you're not that strong. Let me help you, and help me in return. We can cooperate, Sasuke, we are ninja."

Sasuke wasn't quite sure what to say. So he sneered, "What happened to 'Uchiha-san'?"

"Oh, go to _hell._" Sakura withdrew back into her own room.

Sasuke didn't want to admit she was right: he really knew nothing about her, not anymore. She wasn't the same girl he had known. After a while, Sasuke relented and said, "Sakura."

"_What?_"

"We'll spar tomorrow."

He could just _hear _Sakura grinning in satisfaction. "Get your rest now, Sasuke. You're going to need it."

Another silence.

"Sakura."

"Yes, Sasuke."

"Can you pull the hole in the wall shut?"

"Nawh. I think I like it this way. If you snore I'll just punch you."

Sasuke rolled over and slept, and was very, very careful not to snore.

* * *

**I meant to upload this days ago, but I had a blackout from the snowstorm and stuff, so no internet. Oh well, at least I had time to revise. Also, having to kill Lee killed me, but I felt like I had to. It'll be important for Ino's character development. I also have a lot of future scenes written. Anyway, yay for brief almost SasuSaku fluff? By the way, thanks for all the reviews guys! It really fuels me on! Thanks to everyone who favorites and alerts too, but would it kill ya to drop me a line? :D**


	7. Setting Out

Sasuke padded over to the door to retrieve his breakfast, since it was usually left there, but found that it wasn't there. Glancing around, he realized that the food was next to his bed. Of course, the hole in the wall. Sasuke rolled his eyes, sat down, and ate the food. He tried not to pay attention to its taste—he'd be spoiling himself. Also, he had yet to purge the memory of his mother's cooking from his mind, so it was much better to pretend that he was eating tasteless white mush than to acknowledge that Sakura was a damn good cook, as far as he knew.

"Hn." He leaned back, realizing that he had not really left a base of Orochimaru's for an extended period since he had come here. But tomorrow, he would actually be on a mission. He might have to interact with people. Additionally, Sakura had it in her head that they would purposely disobey Orochimaru, which was something Sasuke had just not bothered to do, ever, except for that one time Orochimaru had wanted to sit down and have a talk about how he should have sex with some Karin lady just so that there would be more Uchiha babies around. Sasuke had been horrified to the point that he locked himself in his room for days.

A rat scurried around his room. He recognized that rat; it pretty much lived in his room. The distinguishing feature was that its left eye had been gouged out, and so it often bumped into things. Sasuke realized he was going to miss this rat. How the hell could he miss a rat?!

--

Sakura was stretching and snapping on her gloves, while Sasuke leaned bored against a rock. "You do realize that in an actual fight, you hardly have time to stretch."

"But I'd be warmed up from getting to the area, unless they attacked me in my bed or something," Sakura replied. "So shut up and prepare yourself for my awesome attacks. You've only seen me fight twice since I've been trained, so don't even pretend you know my style."

"I saw that you had the rasengan. How did you copy that?"

Sakura scratched her neck; obviously it was an embarrassing topic. "You see, I didn't actually do a rasengan. It was a genjutsu. I wanted to, erm, intimidate Kakashi."

"You mean impress him," Sasuke cut in, rolling his eyes.

"Screw you!" Sakura brushed imaginary dust off her skirt and took on a stance, raising her fists up. "I'm ready. Go all out."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah! Do you doubt me?"

"Yes. We're not using weapons, are we? Orochimaru would be angry if I maimed you."

"You have to trust me to be able to block your moves. I know I'll be using kunai."

"Hn! You move first."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "I'll teach you to underestimate me." Then she was charging at him, but it was slowly, clumsily, and Sasuke easily blocked it. He grabbed her wrist and twisted it. She raised a foot and kicked him in the shin extremely hard. He flew back, curses spewing from his lips. Damn, that hurt. She must have chakra enhanced her blows, which almost explained her extraordinary strength. He barely got up in time to stop a similar kick being delivered to his head, and retaliated in kind, slamming her against the rock he'd been leaning against before. With lightning speed he followed her and punched her right in the stomach, knocking the air out of Sakura. Was it really going to be that easy? He raised his fist for a final blow, but he grunted in pain when he realized he had, in fact, hit a log. Sasuke's eyes widened before a fist hit him in the back of the head, and colors swam before his eyes as he was kicked in the back, his spine almost breaking. He whirled, ignoring his screaming muscles, and ducked beneath Sakura's next punch. For a long while it went on like this, until one of the times he felt the cold metal of a kunai at his neck. Then started the weapons battle—pulling out shuriken in a split second and using an Uchiha technique to pin her to a rock, Sasuke was surprised it had gotten to this point.

"I win," he said casually. "Like I said I would."

Strangely, though, Sakura grinned. "Or not." Then she—what the hell?!—literally melted out of the razor wire, having disappeared.

Then Sasuke realized: genjutsu?! He, an Uchiha, had been fooled by genjutsu? He growled, then summoned his chakra and with a "kai!" released the illusion. To avoid a future incident like that, he activated his sharingan.

After that, it was like killing baby seals (which Sasuke would have easily done anyway). He could see Sakura's moves, negate her weak attempts at genjutsu, and block every hit. But he decided not to actually injure her, just wear her out until she had to admit defeat—because Sasuke was sadistic like that. After a while, Sakura was indeed breathing hard, but she still refused to give up, continuing to gather worthless chakra in her hands. Next time Sasuke blocked, one of her gloves ripped right at the third knuckle on her right hand. Sasuke caught a glimpse of a hand almost as bruised as Rock Lee's had been that one time they fought. With the distraction, Sakura finally managed to land a blow, but it was weak, not chakra-enhanced. They continued to spar like that for a long time, until Sakura finally swayed where she stood.

Rather than admit defeat, she promptly collapsed in a dead faint.

Sighing, Sasuke carried her back to her room (after receiving a questioning glance from Kabuto). She was still weak. The gap between their abilities had grown marginally smaller, but there was really no difference. It was a bit comforting to know that some things never changed. Still, the fact that she knew genjutsu, medical jutsu, and taijutsu, but had displayed no ninjutsu as of yet, somewhat worried him. He didn't quite know why.

--

"Kukuku," Orochimaru giggled in his chamber, his loyal servant standing by giving him medication. "Everything is going just as planned."

"What do you mean to do?" Kabuto questioned, mixing up a steroid. Orochimaru-sama took daily medications in this body, but it was quite a small price to pay for immortality. And when he took Sasuke's body, he would not have such handicaps. Until then, it was Kabuto's job to keep his master in good health.

"Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun are to become close—_very_ close. Then, when I wish to take Sasuke-kun's body, I will kill the girl. It will hurt him, weaken him, so that I may possess him."

"I thought you were going to use the girl as an alternative host."

"No. Sasuke-kun is the only one I will take. The girl is merely an interesting trinket, to weaken Sasuke when he falls in love with her."

"According to Sasuke-kun's psychological profile… I don't believe he can truly fall in love with somebody weaker than him. And there is no doubt that their abilities are nowhere near each other." Kabuto looked somewhat worried. Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, but his smile grew wider.

"Very well, then, we will simply have to bring Sakura up to Sasuke-kun's level. Double your training sessions with her, as will I, and push her. Teach her new things. We have only a few months before it may become necessary for me to take Sasuke."

"Understood, Orochimaru-sama."

"After she's come back from the mission, give her exactly one day's reprieve, regardless of what injuries she has, then start. I'll begin doing my meddling already. It will take some serious thought to make a relationship blossom… but I have a feeling there is already one brewing. Well, we will see. And Kabuto, couldn't you make that vile concoction taste any better?!"

--

"So, um, frankly I have no idea where we are," Sakura was blathering the next day. "Do you have any idea which direction Sand is in?"

Sasuke sighed. Rubbed the bridge of his nose. Did the girl have any sense of direction whatsoever?

"Sakura, where is it typically warm?"

"In the south?"

"Is it warm in the Sand?"

"Yes?"

"So which direction is the sand?"

"South, but—"

"How do you know which way is south?"

"At noon, the sun is to the south since we're in the northen hemisphere, but—"

"Are we really going to wait for the sun?"

"SASUKE! I know which direction it's in! But I don't know where it is—is it due south, south south east, or what?!"

"Just follow me."

"…Asshole."

They were in fact traveling south west, but Sasuke didn't feel like saying anything more.

--

That night, once they set up camp, Sakura slept like a rock, but Sasuke stayed awake. He usually did. Sometimes it was because he was afraid of nightmares, sometimes it was just because his body wasn't exhausted enough, sometimes it was because shit happens. He wasn't sure which it was this time. All he knew was that for the first time in a while, he was looking up at a starry sky with a full moon. He had forgotten how stars looked, little pinpoints of light shining through a blanket of darkness, like they were trying to force their way through but not succeeding. It was, he realized, like the holes Naruto had tried to blow in the veil of darkness surrounding Sasuke. They still provided a little light. Damn him. That was why he couldn't stop wanting friends, wanting bonds, deep on the inside.

His ears perked when he heard voices. A moment later he realized it was Sakura, talking in her sleep.

"No…get away…don' hurt her. Hurt me inste…" and then there was silence once more.

Sasuke tried to pretend he hadn't heard that. Sakura's personal life was not his concern. He wasn't like the fangirls back at the academy, always searching for gossip. He couldn't care less. There was nobody with a "jucier" story than his, but he sure as hell wasn't going to tell the fangirls anything since that time the rumor that he liked long hair had slipped. He'd only said that because he had a cousin in the Uchiha clan who once had beautiful, flowing black hair, and she was the only pretty girl he'd ever noticed to be such. In fact, he hadn't actually said it. He'd fallen asleep against a tree and some girl had heard him doing what Sakura was doing now: sleep talking. He was about to try to sleep when Sakura started up again, sounding distressed.

"Why…why couldn't I save…I'm too weak…"

Sasuke shivered when he realized just how close this was to what he probably said in his own dreams.

"I need…power…" then Sakura's breathing steadied and there was no more for the rest of the night.

If Sasuke was a night lit by stars, Sakura was daytime peppered by darkness.

--

The following day, Sasuke suddenly stopped in the trees. Sakura barely managed to screech to a hault. "What the hell?!" she demanded.

"We're going to take a detour," Sasuke grated.

"Why?!"

"Well, we'll pass through the fire country either way, but there's a place on the border that I would rather…avoid."

Sakura struggled to recall her world map. "Nothing's there, though. Just the Valley of…oh." She remembered exactly why it would be somewhat awkward for Sasuke to travel through the Valley of the End again.

Sasuke coughed. "We'll, ah, keep to the right of Konoha and Tanzaku Gai. We'll try and get through Fire Country as quickly as possible. I'm sure we both understand why. After that is River Country, which should be fine, then we're home free for Suna. Or rather, you are. I'll have to start hiding. Understand?"

"Yes, Sasuke," Sakura said mockingly. She'd never let Sasuke hear the end of the fact that he couldn't even bear to look at a place.

--

In the middle of that day, when they stopped briefly for lunch, Sakura yelled, "Okay, that's _it._"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"I need a bath. And I will have one. You're too chicken to go to the Valley of the End, but there's a big freakin waterfall there and I'm going to use it. The water's warm, right? You'd know." She knew she was being cruel, but Sakura couldn't care less. She was grimy, dirty, and weary, and hadn't been outside for real in forever. She'd become more aware of herself out here—in Orochimaru's base it was like she could hide from herself, but out here everything was exposed.

She still felt somewhat guilty when Sauske's jaw tightened. "You have twenty minutes; then I'm leaving without you."

Sakura stopped. "You need to wash too," she said pointedly.

"I'm not getting near that place, Sakura," Sasuke snapped.

"I'll fill our waterskins," Sakura offered, dropping the subject. Sasuke tossed her his skin and she took off, rushing to the valley Sasuke was so determined to avoid.

--

Sakura sighed in satisfaction as she washed the last bit of mud out of her hair, letting it flow freely out of the bun she had to keep it in during the day. She examined her hand; it was horribly pale. A month or two indoors had done quite a bit. But now she was renewed. The water was indeed warm, as though it were powered by the Will of Fire of the country they were on the border of. She closed her eyes, then lay back and enjoyed; she still had a few minutes.

She was quite startled when she heard footsteps. Her eyes snapped open, and she automatically, out of old habit, yelled, "Pervert!"

There was an exasperated, strained sigh. "Give it a break, Sakura. I'm not looking. I'm going to bathe."

"S—Sasuke?" Indeed it was he, and he stepped out of the forest. Sakura instinctively covered her chest. "Y—you came!"

"Yes." She noticed that all of Sasuke's muscles were tense, coiled, and his fingers were practically twitching. She realized that this was something intensely difficult for him. He seemed to be keeping his eyes focused on the ground as he undid his belt.

"Wh—wait what?!" Sakura screeched, upon watching Sasuke remove his shirt.

Sasuke sighed again. "If you're going to be squeamish, you can turn towards that rock there and I'll turn toward this one and we won't see an inch of each other."

Sakura obliged and turned toward the statue of the first hokage. A few seconds later, she heard Sasuke enter the water—or rather, didn't hear. She barely felt the ripples.

For a while, there were only occasional splashes as both of them rinsed off.

Sakura had learned to accept silence better over the past few months, but this was still definitely awkward. They were both standing _naked _in a place Sasuke was _phobic_ of. "So," Sakura began nervously, "What made you change your mind?"

"How can I face my brother if I can't face this place? I have to prove to myself that I've truly broken the bond."

Sakura knew she was walking on broken glass, but she dared ask, "Admit it to yourself, then. What…what exactly happened here?"

There was a silence in response, during which Sakura could probably cut the tension with a knife. Finally, Sasuke began in a monotone voice, not breaking once. "Naruto caught me on one of the statues. We fought. We fell. He told me he would break every bone in my body if he had to in order to bring me back. I scoffed at him. He started to use ninetails chakra. I activated my sharingan. We ended up blowing up part of that cliff there." Sakura risked a glance over her shoulder to look at where Sasuke was pointing; sure enough there was a jagged hole that couldn't have been made by nature. "He acknowledged that he didn't know what solitude really felt like, because he had been alone right from the beginning. He didn't know what it was like to lose all that. We faced each other on the water. He told me that Iruka was like a father to him, and that I"—now Sakura detected the faintest crack in the monologue—"that I was like his brother. He said he would go to anything to save me because I was the first bond he ever had like that. I told him that, in that case, I would sever the bond. I told him… "it's too late, Naruto. It's too late." We faced off once more, with renewed vigor. We ended up on opposite sides of the river, right in front of the waterfall. I activated the curse seal, allowed myself to reach the second form. He activated rasengan. I used chidori. We collided. I won; he was unconscious. I left him alive, and walked away, and continued on my quest to join Orochimaru."

Sakura risked another peek over her shoulder and saw that Sasuke's were trembling very, very faintly.

"It's too late for me, Sakura," he said quietly, whispering in a broken voice. "It's too late."

* * *

**In case you're confused about where they are, go to leafninja dot com /images/country/World-2_0 dot gif. It's a nice little map. They started in oto, and...yeah.**

**Orochimaru and Kabuto are SasuSaku fans :D**

**Also, those of you who are not SasuSaku fans but badass Sakura fans, don't worry. That time will come...eventually. It's not going to be a happy little romance, I'll say that much.**

**Sorry that the spar was so short, but I have a lot more planned for the future and the first is just a little 'introduction' as to where their skills lie right now.**

**Again, thanks so much for the reviews-- I seriously wouldn't have written this chappy so soon if I didn't realize how awesome you guys are. Keep it up please! :D  
**


	8. More Old Friends, or not

It was a dark evening, and the only light inside TenTen's apartment was a few candles. There were three forms seated around a small table, visible only as silhouettes. The only sound was the occasional sipping of tea or clinking of silverware.

Finally, TenTen stood up and grabbed a bottle of sake from a shelf. There was no comment as to their being underage. She poured three glasses for the two guests. They guests each took one and raised it.

"To Lee," she said finally. Her toast was echoed, and they all drank.

--

The next day, there was a very hard knock on Maito Gai's door. He immediately sprang up, expecting an enemy, then realized that it was indeed just a knock. He yawned, and slipping on his green bodysuit, walked to the entrance and opened up. He was quite surprised to see Neji and TenTem standing there.

"Aren't you ready yet, sensei?" TenTen all but whined.

Surprised, Gai cried, "But my youthful blossoms! Ready for what?"

Neji snorted. "Isn't it a bit obvious? We're giving ourselves a mission. We are leaving Konoha, and assumed you may like to join us in avenging our teammate."

For once, Gai was at a loss for words. His stoic student was taking an initiative? And that initiative involved breaking Konoha law?!

"We've already left a note for the hokage," TenTen supplied. "She won't like it, but she has to understand that we have to do this."

"Who exactly do you intend to take revenge on?" Gai asked.

"Sasuke Uchiha, naturally," Neji said blankly. "And the one who stopped our medic from healing our teammate. Haruno Sakura."

That blatancy, that bluntness—it wasn't like Neji or TenTen at all. It was like they were… empty, almost, devoid of attitude.

Gai was angry. Why did they have to choose now, the very moment when he could not join them? "Foolish, foolish pupils," he murmured. "I regret it, but I cannot go in the near future! I not only have a physical injury I must attend to, but a few arrangements to keep, and… wait, did you say Haruno Sakura?"

"But of course. Thank you for the consideration, Gai-sensei, and we hope you will allow us to leave in secret for as long as possible." They both turned to leave.

"My pupils."

They looked back over their shoulders.

"Revenge is the very reason you are in this situation—Uchiha Sasuke's revenge. Do you wish to continue the cycle?"

"You're missing the point, sensei!" TenTen contradicted. "We're going to stop him and his follower from doing any more damage. If we can get rid of Orochimaru on the way, so much the better."

It pained Gai to let them go. He had an ominous feeling that it would not end well. But he knew that there was nothing he could do to deter the two youths in front of him—they may even fight him if he tried. Nonetheless, he was worried—he had not seen either of them fight lately, and if their skills were as they were two years ago, well, they didn't have much hope. Oh, who was he kidding? They were his students! They obviously trained! It would be all right.

Gai nodded his farewell, and Neji and TenTen sprang up in unison and took off to who knows where.

--

"There they are," Neji hissed. "I've found them."

"So close to Konoha? What's their aim?" TenTen queried, raising an eyebrow.

"Who knows? Either way, we have to stop them. Follow me. Hide your chakra."

--

Shivers ran up Sakura's neck. "I have a feeling we're being watched, but I can't sense any chakras," she admitted. "But I've never been that good at sensing anyway."

Sasuke glanced back at her and stopped, raising his head. Then his grin widened. "Perhaps their chakras are masked, but we've been in Orochimaru's base for such a long time that our senses are heightened. They move without a sound; they are skilled. But they haven't been traveling for long… they have not yet picked up the scent of the forest like we have. They smell artificial—scented soap or something of the sort. Somebody, then, who cares about cleanliness, but had less sense than you."

--

_Shit. They've made us._

--

"Reveal yourselves!" Sakura called. There was still no rustling as the two nin tracing them stepped out from the trees, knowing themselves found. Her jaw dropped as she noticed the identities. "TenTen? Neji Hyuuga?"

"But of course," Sasuke interjected. "We took the life of their best friend. They're driven by revenge. This could be interesting."

"Why are you so close to Konoha?!" TenTen demanded. "You really think the two of you could do damage on our village?"

"Konoha isn't our target. We're just passing through. Or rather, we were, before you stopped us and held us up."

"Well, your journey won't go farther than here," TenTen declared, hand inching toward her back pocket. She had wanted to see for herself that Sakura really was just mindlessly following Sasuke. It was worse. She understood his motives, and was really on his side. In order to end the circle, she and Neji would have to kill off both of them, along with Orochimaru and the whole of Sound. It was going to be difficult, needless to say.

"We don't want a fight. We need to be in top condition for our mission," Sasuke said, sounding bored.

"Yeah. Judging by the last time I saw them fight, they might actually make us breathe hard." This was Sakura, with a sneer most unlike her.

"What arrogance," Neji snorted. "I'm sure that arrogance wasn't as present when Naruto and Kakashi beat you into the ground."

And then all the nin were invisible with speed as they clashed, briefly—they landed on the tree branches where their opponents had previously been. Sakura had a cut across her cheek from TenTen's kunai, one of Sasuke's chakra points in his leg had been blocked off, TenTen had a nasty bruise forming on her cheek, and Neji was surprisingly untouched.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Impressive. Such speed—but then, you _are_ a Hyuuga. You have the byakugan—a feeble mutilation of the sharingan." His eyes narrowed. "Pathetic!" and then he formed hand signs faster than Neji could follow, breathed in, and spat fire at the two Konoha nin.

When the smoke cleared, they appeared to be gone. Sakura whirled sharply, but there was still nobody in sight. She nimbly ran down the trunk of the tree, plastering her feet to it with chakra, and looked around. Then she got a fist in the face, TenTen having punched her. Hard. Sakura spat blood, swallowed the tooth that had fallen loose, and let go of the tree, landing on the ground. She punched blindly in the direction the hit had come from, and heard a satisfying smack and a thud a few seconds later. But there was no time. Neji was on her, fingers poised and jabbing. He was muttering numbers rapidly under his breath: "two—four—eight—sixteen—thirty-two—sixty-four!" but when he was finished, he was surprised to find Sakura mostly undamaged. Her arm had one tiny bruise forming on it, but she appeared to have… countered his chakra? But that was impossible. Only Hyuuga had such precise chakra control and timing.

Then the grass beneath his feet literally _rose _and wrapped around his ankles. Neji's eyes widened. How the hell--? TenTen was in a similar predicament. Neither of the nukenin were supposed to have Earth-style chakra, but…

Then it hit Neji with the force of a charging bull. "Genjutsu," he gasped aloud. If he remembered anything about Sakura's nukenin profile, she was apt at genjutsu, and Sasuke, well, he had the sharingan. Enough said.

"Took a pretty long time for the _genius_ to figure it out," Sasuke's disembodied voice sneered cruelly. Then he appeared in the clearing and walked toward the two, TenTen chained right next to him. A tree erupted behind the two of them. Neji ignored this and tried to gather his chakra, to force out the Uchiha, but stopped in horror when Sasuke unsheathed a big-ass sword and stabbed TenTen right through the stomach.

TenTen went rigid, her mouth open in a soundless gasp, eyes wide. Sasuke smirked, twisting the blade. Neji raised his arms, but they were snapped back by vines. He could only watch as Sasuke made TenTen writhe in pain. He reached behind her, grabbed her pack, and removed every single kunai from her being, including the hidden ones in her clothes and the one bandaged to her calf. After he removed each, he stabbed it into her. The blood splattered Neji. Once finished, he lazily removed his own sword. "Still hasn't screamed," he commented. "Strong willed. They fall all the harder. Don't you want to help her, Neji?"

Neji clenched his fists, his calm deserting him. He pulled at his restraints, hatred shining through his every pore. How had the Uchiha changed this drastically—to the point where he enjoyed torturing his old teammates?

Another disembodied voice. "Sasuke, that's enough. _Stop. Damnit, stop!" _Then a burst of chakra rushed through him and the genjutsu was dispelled. He collapsed on the ground, aware of Sakura standing near him. Another form fell limp to the ground near him—TenTen. She curled up on the forest floor among the leaves, clutching her physically unwounded stomach.

"Damnit, Sakura," Sasuke growled.

"That was entirely uncalled for. We wanted to stop them, not torture them. The fact that you take pleasure in their pain is—"

"I was simply trying to impress upon them that we're not to be—"

"You were torturing them. They got the hint when you restrained them! Do you realize that now their vendetta on is going to be even worse? You kill one teammate, torture the other physically, and torture the other one mentally? We're ninja, not monsters!"

"Stop lecturing me. Knock them out hard enough to give them amnesia, and then let's continue on our way. By the way, I saved your ass. The Hyuuga was about to go Eight Trigrams on you."

"I could've handled it," Sakura grumbled. Rustling of clothes as she knelt.

"You knocked her out with medical jutsu? What a waste—"

"It ensures that she will have no mental damage, plus she won't remember a thing. Get going already; scout out the area. I'll catch up to you."

The body moved closer to him. There was a whisper right at his ear. "We'll be in Tanzaku Gai tomorrow at the latest. When you wake up, she needs food and water. Didn't think to bring that, did you? I'm leaving you some. Oh, and…you won't actually have amnesia."

_What the hell? _Neji thought, before a jolt of chakra similar to the one that dispelled the genjtusu knocked him out.

--

He was woken up by a voice screaming, "GODDAMNIT!"

The screeching didn't cease, and Neji rolled over, trying to cover his ears. His head was throbbing. He just wanted…to sleep.

The voice softened. "Neji, get up. We have work to do."

"Nh…"

"NEJI!"

Neji finally cracked an eyelid open. TenTen was leaning over him, her hair starting to hang out of her twin buns. He then realized there was a pain in his arm. He looked down and noticed that there was a _freakin syringe needle _sticking out of his arm.

Neji really, really didn't like needles. He reflexively grabbed it and tore it out. "What the _hell?_" he hissed.

"Needed to wake you up. We have to get back on their trail, I don't know how far ahead of us they are! I'm the mistress of both weapons and drugs, didn't you know? I managed to jolt you out of your chakra-induced sleep—"

"TenTen?" Neji wondered, the events of last… well, he didn't know what unit to use… coming back to him. "You—you're alive?"

She snorted. "No. I'm back from the dead. Of course I'm alive. I'd probably be writhing in pain, but I know how to reduce the aftereffects of genjutsu—hence the needle in your arm! Oh yeah, and someone left food for both of us. Now come on, let's _go!_"

Neji acknowledged the courage, sitting up, but then shook his head. "TenTen, I—did you see their power? We've trained a lot, but that genjutsu. We can't hope to counter their attacks. They are simply too good, and exactly the wrong matches for us. Sakura may be a close-range fighter like me, but Sasuke has all his jutsu. In addition, you know how good Lady Tsunade is. Sakura has probably acquired similar skills, if not to the same extent… we should abandon this venture. We can only get injured."

Neji never saw the fist that hit him in the face a split second later. He flew back to the ground, a bruise forming on his cheek. He nursed his cut lip and glowered at TenTen, who had been the one to administer the blow. She glared right back.

"I cannot _believe_ you," she hissed. "Did that genjutsu affect your brain? Do you realize what the _hell _you are saying? You want us to let our teammate's death go unavenged? You want to JUST SPOIL LEE'S MEMORY?!"

"TenTen, calm down," Neji chastised. "You don't know what you're talking about— "

"No, Neji," the weapons' mistress growled, fury creeping up her cheeks in the form of a red flush. "I will _not_ calm down. I had respect for you. You are an alleged _genius. _Why can't you be the overconfident jerk you used to be right now?! If it were you who were dead, Lee wouldn't back down! That's where he beats you—loyalty to his friends!"

"TenTen!" Neji said sharply. "I won't tolerate this!"

"He was braver than you!" TenTen ranted. "He would never give up, and that was what made him succeed! He never gave up on the ones he loved!"

"AND LOOK WHERE THAT'S LANDED HIM _NOW_!" Neji yelled back, finally losing his cool.

TenTen stumbled back, stricken, against a tree. Neji suddenly felt a hundred years old. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"TenTen, all I'm saying is… Ito see what I saw in the genjutsu happen... I don't want to lose another teammate when I could have prevented it. Would Lee want us to go on a suicide mission?"

"Coward," TenTen said in a low, trembling voice. "you're a coward."

"No. I'm just sane," Neji responded. He finally stood. "TenTen, without my Byakugan you cannot find them. You would have to stop. Therefore, for both our sakes, I am going back to the village. Don't try to be a hero, TenTen. You're not cut out to be one. Neither am I."

TenTen stood too. This time the rage in her countenance was cold. "So be it. I will find them on my own. I don't need your help. If it kills me, then I will know that I at least made an attempt to honor Lee's memory. I didn't sit around and let his killers roam freely." She turned her back to him, picking up the syringe she'd used and depositing it in her pack. "Farewell, Hyuuga." She leaped off into the trees without a backward glance.

Neji stayed there for a few minutes. Well, that was a surprise.

He closed his eyes, then activated the Byakugan, searching for the way back to Konoha.

* * *

**AN: Okay, first off, I am SO sorry for not updating for more than a week. Writer's block, schoolwork, basically crap came up. But hopefully I'll get in updates faster than this in the future.**

**Anyway, I had this argument between Neji and TenTen in my mind ever since I decided Lee had to die. I always thought that Neji's improving his personality so drastically was bull, so I tried to bring a bit of his old hopeless "fate dictates it" attitude back ("you're not cut out to be a hero"). And we don't know much about TenTen, so I gave her a bit of personality I thought she'd have. Oh, and I chose not to let Gai come because he would TOTALLY pwn Sasuke and Sakura with his awesome youth XD.  
**

**I thought Sasuke's torturing them may have been a little OOC, but I thought that he would be bothered by his own outburst last chapter, and wanted to prove to everyone that he really is cruel and heartless, and that it really _is _too late. Thoughts?**

**I'll admit it: I haven't proofread this chapter for technical errors or credibility. Too tired. So...I'm counting on you reviewers :3  
**


	9. Evoke

**AN: Okay, there are no words for how sorry I am for not updating for 30 days. Please, please forgive me. But writer's block is not exactly easy to kill -faints- Anyway, this chapter's longish by my standards and it contains the explanation you've all been waiting for... so, without further ado, here's the next chapter: Evoke!**

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* * *

**

Over the next few days, Sasuke became less and less vocal, to the point where he and Sakura didn't talk at all. Meals were when the person currently in front dropped down to the ground and tossed the other a roll. They'd eat in silence, quickly, then start again.

They stopped briefly in Tanzaku Gai. Sakura tried to delay them. She wanted to see if Neji and TenTen really would be there—but it looked like they'd given up. Sakura wasn't sure how she felt. She wasn't sure why she'd tipped off Neji and TenTen at all. Either way, Sasuke's despicable genjutsu had probably scared them off. Oh well. Perhaps Sakura had just wanted a break in the monotony of just leaping from tree…to tree…to tree… running across a clearing… and then leaping again. She really wanted to learn space-time jutsu.

As they walked through the streets, it was apparent that her and Sasuke's transformation jutsu were effective. They knew their faces would be recognized across the Fire Country, so they changed their appearances. Since Tanzaku Gai had no ninja, there was nobody to see through the obvious illusion. They were just two civilians walking along, one man with straight brown hair and brown eyes and a woman just as generic. Their faces were entirely average. The idea was to draw absolutely no attention to them. Sasuke was against stopping in Tanzaku Gai in the first place, but Sakura reminded him that though he was accustomed to going hungry, she was not, and she needed food in order to complete the mission effectively. So that's how they ended up in the market, using what little ryo they had to pay for a few fruits and cheap rolls. Sasuke was wearing a scowl as she cheerfully thanked the vender and started to eat, her stomach praising her.

"Where did the food we brought go anyway?" Sasuke inquired darkly. If he kept being so… so… Sasuke-like, it would give them away.

"Lost it," Sakura mumbled through her roll, entirely covering up the fact that she'd left it for the Konoha nin she'd hoped would pursue them.

"Some ninja," he muttered.

Sakura just laughed and tossed him a tomato. Of course he caught it, glowered at it, then grudgingly ate it. Sakura knew he was having a hard time controlling an expression of utter delight—he'd always loved tomatoes. Just imagining Sasuke with a grin on his face, munching away at the red fruit (A/N it is a fruit right?), made her giggle out loud—most unlike the dark person she was in Orochimaru's lair. It was much more difficult to act evil when there was a lovely sun shining down, people chatting around her, and a delicious apple in her hand. Her causes were still intact, but what she'd thought to be hatred had evaporated. She'd tried to be like Sasuke, tried to be dark and emotionless, but now she realized that she couldn't be a copy of him forever. She would find her own ways to cope with what she knew she had to do. She bitterly reminded herself of that night—and it had been in this very village too…

_She was on a mission with Yamato, Naruto, and Sai. They were in Tanzaku Gai, just passing through. Sakura had been out for a stroll during the night, unable to sleep. She had jogged a few laps around the village when she sensed a dark chakra coming from an alley. Wait, chakra? Only ninja had chakra, and Tanzaku Gai had no ninja. And this chakra wasn't from any of her teammates—it was unfamiliar and almost sinister. Sakura was barefoot, having left her sandals back at the inn. She masked her own chakra, and inched toward the alley._

"_D—don't hurt her! I've moved on, I have a husband now! She's his, not yours, and you have no right!"_

"_You know you can't resist me. I'm the only one for you. And if you don't shut your trap, I'll kill that brat."_

_A shriek._

_Sakura jumped into battle mode, and moved into the alley. A man with sandy blond hair was holding a kunai to the throat of a little girl with brown hair, and her mother, with the same hair, was in the corner, bleeding. The man was wearing a Wind forehead protector—with a slash through it. A rogue-nin. Sakura's eyes widened, but she forced herself to stay in the shadows, to not be seen._

_"You sick freak! I hate you!"_

_The man pressed the kunai closer to his hostage's throat. "Shut up!"_

_Instinct took control of Sakura, and she leaped out of the shadows, grabbing the man in a headlock and squeezing. "Don't make another move, you disgusting excuse for a ninja. Release the girl."_

_The man grinned—and tightened his grip and sliced the neck of the child. A fatal blow. "NO!" Sakura and the woman screamed at once. Sakura raised a fist and punched the man into the wall. He was out cold. Stones crumbled over his head. The woman was sobbing. Sakura knelt by the girl, tears threatening to spill from her own eyes as she flooded her hands with chakra. She pumped everything she could into saving the girl, but it was no use; she'd lost too much blood, the artery was severed, and she had no pulse. Sakura cried as she continued healing with everything she had. If she'd been stronger… she could have stopped him. If she'd mentally been stronger, she would have incapacitated him before he could hurt the girl…_

_Sakura had never thought herself capable of killing. Injuring was all good, but to take someone's life… she had never thought she'd be able to handle it. Naruto had never killed anyone either—why should she? But now, she felt a rage she'd never known before. That man had killed an innocent girl—right in front of her—with no gain for himself. She lifted her bloodied hands, knowing it was useless. She stalked over to the man, who was barely waking up. "You," she hissed. "You bastard. You abandoned your village to pursue somebody who has no interest in you. You murdered an innocent child."_

_The man let out a toothy grin._

_Sakura rammed her fist into his nose, forcing it back into his brain. Death was immediate. It was far less painful than he deserved._

_She turned to the woman, expecting gratitude or sobs. But she seemed just as furious as Sakura. "It's your fault," she said in a broken voice. "If you hadn't… if you'd let him have his way with me, she'd still be alive!"_

_It was more painful than any physical blow._

_She was still so weak. She still couldn't save lives—and she had just been responsible for ending two._

_"I hate you," the woman said again._

_Sakura snapped._

_If ending lives was all she could do, so be it._

_There was another piercing scream._

_When she stumbled back into the inn, Naruto was waiting for her. The moment she entered, he yelled, "Sakura-chan! Are you alright? Who hurt you? I'll pummel him!"_

_Sakura realized her hands were still covered in blood. "I'm fine," she said, and collapsed in her bed._

_"Ne? Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!"_

_"I said I'm fine, Naruto," she repeated, closing her eyes. She just wanted to sleep. "I'm a med-nin, I would know…"_

_The solution, as she saw it, was simple. She needed more power._

_When they got back to the leaf, she gave her report to the hokage, omitting her venture. The next day, Haruno Sakura disappeared without a trace, but for a note that said she was going away._

_She'd ended three lives that night. She'd known she was prepared to end more._

_She was already a step ahead of Naruto._

It was useless to pretend to herself that she didn't care about Konoha. She did. But right now, if she ever wanted to defend it, she'd have to become stronger, and it was true that a month or so training with Orochimaru had helped her progress more than any other period in her life. It killed her to act like she didn't care about her friends, but it was the only way they would accept her turning to what they called the "dark side".

She glanced up from her thoughts, realizing that since she'd finished her roll, she was gnawing away at her fingers. Sasuke was looking at her with a raised eyebrow, half of his tomato still in his hand. Sakura let out a nervous giggle. "Right then… I guess we should go now."

With a wordless agreement, they leaped from the spot in a flash. Anybody who'd been looking their way probably thought they had imagined the couple. There wasn't anything interesting about them anyway.

Sakura and Sasuke landed in the trees, south of Tanzaku Gai. Sakura breathed in the fresh scent as they both lifted their hands and, with a "Kai!" released their illusions.

Sakura watched as Sasuke's familiar scowl took place. But there was more than just anger. Sakura could tell now—he was repressing something too. The way he'd broken briefly at the Valley of the End, the way he'd been so conflicted over her curse seal—Sasuke wasn't pure evil either.

Still, Sakura knew he was not the same boy he once was when he dropped the tomato onto the ground.

"I need to relieve myself," Sakura said. "Go on without me; I'll find you."

Sasuke shrugged and obliged, running off southwest.

Sakura picked up the tomato. Tossed it up into the air, caught it. The juices from where Sasuke had bitten at it flowed out onto her hand. She'd once entertained thoughts of saving Sasuke, like Naruto, but now she could see… Sasuke didn't need saving. He was perfectly in control of his situation. Who knew—maybe he could actually kill Orochimaru. Maybe that was his plan. Still, Sasuke confused her. She knew his brother had slaughtered the clan, but something was off. Why would his brother do that? Did Sasuke ever even question the motives? The Uchiha clan didn't have a history of mental illness, and while some of them had the capability to kill off the clan, nobody saw fit to go through with it. So why did Uchiha Itachi, who, according to Kakashi, was peace-loving… murder his family and the ones he loved? And the most important question of all: why did he leave Sasuke alive?

Sakura squeezed, and what remained of the tomato exploded in her fist, running out and dripping to the ground. Well, she had a date with Akatsuki. Maybe she'd find out a bit more.

Till then, she knew she had to maintain a grudging alliance with Sasuke. She had to act cold and not… annoying, as he would put it. Well, she'd have to see if she could survive another few days of utter monotony.

* * *

The night before they would leave Fire Country, when Sakura was coming back to camp from a bath in a nearby lake, TenTen found her.

Sakura had whispered to her that they were going southwest, but how could she have found them? Especially since… "What happened to Neji?" Sakura asked, as TenTen lazily circled her as though she were prey. Still, Sakura knew she had the upper hand—TenTen was tired, beaten, and dirty while she was rejuvenated from her bathing.

"He gave up," TenTen replied warily.

"Pretty smart of him."

"Why did you tell me where you were going?"

"Because I wanted to give you a fighting chance—the Leaf's Will of Fire wouldn't let you give up so easily, and you'd just get yourself killed otherwise."

"Why do you care?"

"Just because I'm not your friend anymore doesn't mean I want you dead."

"Your murdering Lee says otherwise!" Sakura could tell TenTen was trying to buy time, to regain her breath. Hn, let her. "Why, Sakura? Why did you leave? If you can give me a satisfactory answer… I'll leave you alone."

"Pfft. As if. You won't leave without achieving your goal unless you are forced to. As for Lee…I'm…sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen." Sakura's tone was earnest, but TenTen was appalled at how lightly Sakura was taking the matter. Didn't she feel guilty at all?

"You're avoiding the question. Was it because of Sasuke?"

"I left because I was tired of the village being so weak. I achieved a lot more under Orochimaru-sama"—she bit out the suffix reluctantly—"than in all my life in the leaf."

"Our ninja don't have to be powerhouses because we work as teams!" TenTen argued. "Teamwork is what makes us strong, and our companionship! Bonds, as I hear that Sai kid put it!"

"Ah, yes. How's Sai doing? Does he still call me ugly?"

"He's just fine," TenTen spat out. "You're avoiding the question again."

"I gave you my answer," Sakura shrugged.

"It doesn't make sense. There's more to it. Sasuke is involved, isn't he?"

* * *

Sasuke was getting worried. Sakura was usually a quick bather, and it wasn't like her to take this long. They had already delayed too much. Grumbling about burdens, he stalked toward the lake, when he heard Sakura angrily saying,

"Sasuke has nothing to do with it. Hell, he pretty much hates me for interrupting his life."

"I knew it!" another voice crowed. "You still have feelings for him! Psht, fickle, aren't you? I guess that little moment with Naruto before you left—ahahahah! You think you can save the bastard!"

There was a schlik—a kunai was being drawn. "Sasuke is a damn good ninja. He doesn't need saving. And there was nothing between Naruto and me either. Now, your ploy to regain your bearings has succeeded, because I let it—so are you ready, TenTen?"

"You still haven't given me a satisfactory answer, Sakura. But I can see you never will. I can take you!"

"Yes, but can you take both of us?" Sasuke asked, stepping out of the shadows.

Sakura was pissed that Sasuke was getting involved in her fight. He noticed, and nodded. "We can't afford to stop. We're already behind schedule. Convince her to stop or let me kill her quickly."

Sakura looked at TenTen. She sighed. In a flash, she was throwing a smoke bomb, running toward TenTen, and drawing back her fist. She landed a punch straight to the temple. TenTen was out cold.

"Can you restrain her with something?"

Sasuke clapped his hands together reluctantly, and vines clamped down on TenTen.

"Go ahead. I'll catch up." Sasuke immediately leaped off, annoyed at having wasted so much time. Sakura pulled a summoning scroll from her backpack, and summoned one of Konoha's messenger birds. She wrote a message on one of the large leaves native to this part of the Fire Country with her nails, detailing TenTen's location. She didn't bother leaving a signature. She rolled it up, strapped it to the bird's leg, and sent it off. Then she hurried after Sasuke.

* * *

Ino landed another punch to Shikamaru. Both of them were somewhat lacking in Taijutsu, so it only made sense that they would train together. It was a wonder she'd managed to get his lazy ass up enough to make him spar with her. He'd been surprised—Ino was the type of girl to worry more about her hair than her ninja skills—but agreed after a bit of prodding.

At first, Shikamaru had assumed Ino needed something to beat up, pissed about losing to Sakura. But then he realized that she was genuinely keeping an eye on the fight, on his body language, and covering areas she'd left open before. Whenever he'd land a blow, Ino would make sure nothing could be landed there again. She was actually training, actually learning. Shikamaru realized that Ino was prettyl in battle—way more attractive than she was with makeup applied and hair let down. Without that fake smile, her hair pinned up, brows furrowed in concentration, Ino was the first girl Shikamaru had seen to be beautiful in his whole life.

He winced and fell when her fist connected with his jaw. There could be no doubt about it; their taijutsu was, at this point, practically equal. After all, Shikamaru was a Chuunin for intellect, strategy, and his bloodline limit—not physical strength. Then he stopped, sensing a chakra coming toward them—slowly.

"Wait," he said seriously. "We're not alone." Ino stopped, and realized she felt it too. They both turned toward the presence.

Emerging from the woods was Neji Hyuuga, in a state they had never seen before: limping, haggard, bleeding everywhere, and hair cut to half its length.

"The bastards," he gasped. "There's someone…following… TenTen and…Sakura and Sasuke…" then he toppled forward and fell flat on his face, an arrow in his back.

Ino rushed over. The arrow had been in there for a long time. He probably hadn't even noticed it—she knew all about the byakugan and its blind spot. But judging by the purpling skin around it, it was poisoned. Who the hell had done this to one of the village's best?!

* * *

"This took longer than I expected," Sasuke said the night before they would enter Suna as they laid down their sleeping bags. "By now, Suna has probably heard of your desertion. Tomorrow, we'll go back to the disguises we used in Tanzaku Gai, but with Sand robes. You'll be… Taira, and I'll be Heiiji. Our goal is to locate the kazekage and perform surveillance. You'll be on the lookout for Akatsuki, and I'll attempt to infiltrate the kazekage's office. Orochimaru told us the descriptions and probably locations of these rings we are to locate. Then we'll deal with the issue of the Hachibi."

"How are we going to get an audience with the kazekage?"

"We don't need an audience," Sasuke said emotionlessly. "We'll force our way in. Is your transformation genjutsu up to par to take on the form of a guard once we take two out?"

"Of course it is!" Sakura snorted. "I was a master of academy jutsu, you know. Not that you ever paid any attention to me."

"…"

"But then, I suppose I wasn't worth notice to the high and mighty Sasuke Uchiha, was I?"

"…"

"Okay, sorry. I guess you must have been too busy training to kill you brother. Who, by the way, we might get to meet in the near future. Do you really think you're ready for this? I could go after Akatsuki on my own if"—

"—you talk too much."

Miffed, Sakura tossed a handful of sand at him so as to make his sleeping bag rough and annoying to sleep in. Then she closed her eyes and slept.

* * *

**AN: FIRST. I don't know whether I'm going to go with ShikaIno or ShikaTema. I haven't had a preference for a while. So, readers, which should I go with? It won't be a major aspect in the story, but I'd just like to know for reference.**

**So now, there's a second person pursuing TenTen and the Sound duo, somebody who can beat Neji up. Sakura and Sasuke are still grudgingly allies. Sakura is realizing she doesn't have enough hate. And we learn one of the reasons why Sakura went to Orochimaru! Key phrase _one of._ This is not going to be simple guys XD Hope you're ready for it!**

**I have a good idea of where this is all going, but I've already taken suggestions from reviewers so you guys ARE affecting the tide of the story! And I love you guys for giving me the motivation to break out of writer's block!**

**Next chapter should be up -much- sooner. Hopefully. Don't lose hope in me yet!  
**


	10. Hyuuga

**Oh dear god, I'm so sloppy with updates, and now that I have finals coming up... I'm sooo sorry guys! I'm going to be a lot more motivated from now on! Please don't hate me.**

**

* * *

**

Neji was critical.

"Damnit!" Ino cursed, the nurses around her working frantically to regulate his heartbeat, pumping chakra into him as she tried to keep him alive. The poison was spread all the way through. Apparently it was destroying him from the inside out, also containing a genjutsu which was causing him to thrash around. Ino could only imagine what sort of jutsu was making Hyuuga Neji lose his composure.

He had dropped to his knees on the field and begun to claw his own eyes out. It was the most gruesome thing Ino had ever seen. Blood seeping out through his fingers, her screaming, Shikamaru yelling at her to do something, her standing back—Shikamaru overpowering Neji, restraining his hands with shadows, and forcing him to the hospital. Normally, this would have been a job for Sakura, but, well, considering the circumstances Ino was the only one there. So they put her, the amateur, in charge of the operation. Fools, Ino thought as tears threatened to seep out of her eyes. She bit them back and barked, "Get my father in here! We need to stop the genjutsu!"

"Your father is unavailable; we already attempted to contact him," answered one of the nurses. Ino ground her teeth.

"Fine! You there!" She pointed at one of the chakra-giving nurses. "Support my body!"

"Yamanaka-san, I'm not sure that's a—"

"Mind-transfer jutsu!"

The first thing Ino felt was blinding pain. Of course. She would feel everything the subject felt. She'd been working on a way to eliminate that factor, but had so far been unsuccessful. So for a good three minutes she acted exactly like Neji had: screaming in agony. Then she began to swim through the brain. There were flashes of everything, all sorts of memories. She ignored them, wanting to violate the patient's privacy as little as possible. Then she saw the monster of a genjutsu, constricting the entire cranium. She didn't want to know what it was showing Neji. She just knew she had to kill it.

Ino had been walking in minds since she was young. She knew from experience that she could summon a weapon—but it was always different, depending on the mind. In Sakura's mind, it was a kunai, last she'd checked. In her father's, a bow and arrow. She wondered what it was in Neji's.

She concentrated, and a katana formed in her hand. She snorted. Of course Neji would have a traditional sword. Ino wielded it as best she could, went to the roping monster and methodically started to cut through it.

Then it did something no genjutsu had ever done before.

It reared up and fought back.

Ino fell right out of Neji's mind, landing back in her own body, breathing hard. The first thing she noticed was the absence of noise. Of beeping monitors or chakra sensors.

Everybody was staring at her.

A feeling of dread washed over Ino. No. Not again. She couldn't have possibly… Neji had to be…but that silence…

A flatline.

She leaped into action. "I'm going to chakra-start his heart! I'm making an incision in his chest, now! Somebody help me!"

But nobody moved.

"What's wrong with you?" Ino screamed. "We have to save him!"

"Y-Yamanaka-san…" one of the nurses started tentatively. She stared at the ground. "the patient is clinically dead. He has been for two minutes now."

Ino glanced at Neji's pale, unmoving, bloodied form. She collapsed, sobbing, into the only chair in the room.

Then Tsunade burst into the room. She strode over to Neji and placed her hand on his forehead. She frowned, concentrating. Her hand came away bloody. "This boy is not dead," Tsunade said. "It's a coma, the likes of which I have never seen before."

"But…how is that possible?" a nurse asked. "All the vitals are down, his heart is not beating…"

"His heart is beating, but not enough for us to detect. It can beat less because all of his blood has been thinned out by some sort of poison. It flows much easier, and freely. It is still powering his brain. So clinically, he may be dead, but he…"

Ino was shocked. Tsunade had deduced all this from just one quick examination? It was no wonder she was the hokage, the most renowned medical kunoichi ever…

"…he is still alive. And so, he can be saved. His eyes"—she looked down at the empty sockets pityingly, as they'd had to remove the horribly mangled eyes—"are gone, and consequentially his byakugan. But there is still hope for Hyuuga Neji." She turned her back, everyone else staring at her in awe. "Ino, come with me."

* * *

Sakura had never really liked the Sand.

It was mostly the weather. Sakura, despite her sunny disposition, disliked warmth—she preferred rain, snow, hail, anything but constant sun. And sandstorms? Those were the worst. She marveled at how people could be so dressed up in robes when she had to rip a bit of her Sound shirt just to feel a little more of a breeze. She was still sweating bricks. She knew she would be lobster-red for a week, but sunburns were merely a distraction. A painful distraction, but she could deal with it.

The Kazekage's building was naturally the tallest one there. Easy target. As she and Sasuke walked in their respective transformations, they decided to assault the building from both sides—Sakura would attempt to go in the main entrance and Sasuke the back entrance. It went unsaid that any violence was acceptable, but there should be no killing.

Sakura waited behind a slab of stone until one of the guards went to relieve himself. With a dull thud, she knocked him unconscious. To make sure he wouldn't awaken and come back or be found, she buried his clothes and dragged him into a large cactus shrub thing. She clapped together her arms and transformed as best she could. She went back to the front entrance where the guard had been stationed, acting like nothing had happened. Now for the surveillance part…

She waited there for a good five minutes before another guard came out through the double doors. "Hey, Junichi. Your shift's up. Go and get washed up."

Ah. Sakura assumed there was a guard's quarters, where the officials off duty would relax, bathe, etcetera. She had no idea where it was, nor did she care to go there. Then again, she didn't know where the Kazekage's office was either.

Suddenly, an elderly woman with a cane barged in. She was breathing heavily. She looked around wildly, her eyes landing on Sakura. "You, there," she gasped out. "Young man. Take me to the kazekage, now! There's been urgent news from Konoha! There's another traitor!" The lady walked over to Sakura, latched onto her arm. "Help me to the kazekage's office; I can't climb stairs very well…"

"Ma'am," Sakura started, attempting to sound very, very dim, "I don't know where it is."

The lady looked incredulous. "Just take me up those steps there and a few halls to the right! Honestly, how can you defend the kazekage if you don't even know where he is?"

And so Sakura had no choice but to pick up the woman and voluntarily carry the news of her own betrayal to the kazekage.

About halfway up the stairs, a much younger lady with medic robes cornered them. "Aiko-san!" she cried. "Finally, I found you! You're in no condition to be walking around…" she looked at Sakura. "Thank you for bringing her here, sir. I'll take her now, sorry she caused you trouble."

"But there's a traitor!" The woman wheezed. "A traitor I tell you! The bird said so!"

"Yes, we've known there's a traitor for quite some while," the nurse said tiredly as she carried the woman away.

_So that's it,_ Sakura thought glumly. _They already know._

She went up the remaining flight of steps, quickening her pace, and, once she reached the top, started walking to the right.

However, she moment she started, another guard crashed into her. She fell hard against the wall, her head hitting it with a painful thump.

Gaara rounded the corner.

Sakura was lying on the ground, and she realized her transformation had been destroyed. She was lying there, right in front of the kazekage himself, the target!

"Sakura-san?" Gaara said, looking mildly surprised. "I didn't hear you were coming. What are you doing here?"

Sakura froze. He wasn't…attacking her. He didn't know she was a traitor. She was perfectly safe here in the Sand! So there was no need to use force after all…where was Sasuke anyway? Of course! Sasuke! He was the traitor they knew about, not Sakura!

"Kazekage-sama," Sakura croaked.

"Please, you can address me as Gaara," the insomniac said. There was still an aura of danger about him, but he seemed so much more…stable. Like he wouldn't lash out and kill anybody randomly. But of course—if he was a madman he wouldn't be kazekage. He held out his hand to pull Sakura up from the wall she'd fallen against, and told the other guard, "Leave us." To Sakura: "Let's walk toward my office."

Sakura had been on a few diplomatic missions to the Sand with Tsunade, but had never actually met Gaara after his appointment. Now, she walked next to him cautiously.

"G—Gaara, then. Uh…" she thought rapidly, keeping the goal in mind. She was briefly distracted by seeing a ring on his finger which matched the description exactly of one of the rings she and Sasuke were supposed to obtain. "This isn't exactly an official mission. Tsunade-sama didn't want this going out. There is an issue with…another Jinchuuriki. We figured we could…use your assistance."

"There are problems with Naruto?" Gaara inquired, his facial bones moving in a way that suggested that, had he had eyebrows, he would have skeptically raised one.

"N—no, nothing like that," Sakura assured, willing herself to stop stammering and looking so guilty. "It's—it's the eight-tails. In Kumo. He has been causing trouble for us, has stolen a few valuable things. We thought that maybe you could reason with him, because we don't understand why it's happening."

"Naruto is much better at issues such as that."

"Naruto is busy, and we need him to stay in Konoha," Sakura lied, the falsities coming to her easier now as she started to work out a story in her head. They arrived at the office just in time for another guard to come walking down the corridor. The guard made eye contact with Sakura. Looked surprised. Narrowed his eyes. Lifted his hand and made the three hand signs that she and Sasuke had agreed on—yes. This guard was Sasuke. He was probably wondering why she was in her real form… Gaara had not yet noticed him; his back was turned to Sasuke. "Oh, here's my friend now. Heiiji!" she waved. Sasuke got the point and immediately transformed back into the other alternate identity, one with short brown hair, brown eyes, and a round face. A Leaf headband was slung across his forehead, and Sakura was grateful her slashed hitai-ate was in her bag where Gaara couldn't see it. Gaara turned and examined Sasuke—well, Heiiji.

"I don't recognize him from the Chuunin exams," Gaara said. Sakura thought quickly and blabbered,

"Oh—well, see, Heijii—he was already a chuunin; he is two years older than us. Hokage-sama didn't want to send a full team as it would look to suspicious and this is, after all, unofficial. Heiiji-kun, this is Gaara-sama! Gaara, this is my friend, Akabaya Heiiji."

"It's an honor to meet you, Kazekage-sama," Sasuke said—unfortunately in his normal voice. Realizing this, he made his voice a little lower and gruffer. "Sorry I'm late, Sakura. I lost you for a moment there."

Gaara appeared to be studying Sasuke. Eventually he said, "Let's go into my office. We'll further discuss this matter there."

* * *

In the Hokage's office, Tsunade had intertwined her fingers on the desk, and was intensely staring at Ino. It wasn't quite a glare—there was no blame in the look. But it all the same made the young blonde feel uncomfortable. There was almost pain in her mentor's gaze. Then Ino understood, with a sinking feeling.

"You want me to stop being a medical-nin," she said, her voice trembling. "You think I'm a failure and should stick to the flower shop. I can't even hold a candle to Sakura…is that it, Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade let out a slow breath and raised an eyebrow. "No, actually. I was going to entrust you with finding a way to get Neji out of his coma. I want you in charge of the case."

"_What?"_ Ino cried. "But—but I failed! With him and Lee! If I acted quicker and didn't freak out, I could have saved them! But I..I…" her voice cracked. "I don't want to be responsible for the death of another person!"

In a sudden burst of anger, Tsunade slammed a fist down onto her desk. It left a sizeable dent in the wood. "Just be quiet, Ino! Your self-confidence, or lack thereof, is killing them! Listen to me. Neji, Lee, and most of the people you'll have to heal are ninja. They understand that they are putting their lives on the line for something they believe in. Of course we want to prevent their deaths, but it's not something you should be hurting yourself over! As a medical nin, you're going to have to face the fact that some of your patients are going to die! And this is not about Sakura. As far as I am concerned"—her tone wavered for just moment here—"Sakura was never a Konoha ninja. She is a threat, and you should not look up to her for that! Become your own person, Ino. You are the most qualified person right now to figure out the boundaries of the coma Neji is in—you're the mind-walker, and you know what you saw. Get to work. You have a whole library at your disposal. Push aside your personal feelings and do your job!"

Silence.

"Y—yes, Tsunade-sama," Ino said in a small voice. She turned to go.

"And Ino." She turned back once more and was surprised to see Tsunade's eyes moist. "I believe in you."

* * *

"Let me see him! Let me see him!" Naruto yelled, trying to push past Ino, who was blocking the doorway to the hospital room. "Somebody hurt Neji, I have to find out who—"

"Naruto, his family is in there right now!" Ino reprimanded. "You have to be respectful to the Hyuuga! Besides, he can't say anything. He's in a coma. He's practically dead!"

"But Ino-chan, I wanna see…" Naruto whined. "How did he get injured anyway? He wasn't on a mission, was he? And where's TenTen anyway?"

Ino pursed her lips. Maito Gai had explained where Neji and TenTen had gone, but somehow she figured Naruto wouldn't take kindly to being told his friends wanted to kill the very person he was trying to save. "I don't know. He's in a coma, so it's not like I can get any information out of him."

"But Ino, he's my friend!"

"Wait ten minutes until the Hyuuga are gone, okay, Naruto?" Ino sighed, giving in. Naruto nodded reluctantly, then sat down into a chair outside the room, sulking. Ino turned around and went back to continue recounting what had happened to the Hyuuga. There were fortunately only three who came—the Hyuuga leader, Hiashi, and his two daughters Hinata and Hanabi.

"So he is still very much alive, it's just that his blood is so thin that his weak heart has to beat less. We are doing everything we can. In the meantime…" she bit her lips, knowing what she was going to ask would not go over well. "I understand this is a controversial topic but… the cursed seal could very well be contributing to the genjutsu or interfering with our healing attempts. Could you, somehow…well…remove it?"

Hiashi drew himself to his full height and glared at her. "Are you implying that a main house member has activated the seal to hurt Neji?"

"N—no, Hyuuga-sama! Not at all! It's just…it would be much easier for us to…treat the patient….without fearing…well, the curse seal is a bit, you know, unstable, so all I'm saying is…"

"Father, she's right," Hanabi said. She knew her opinion would be valued by her father, since she was the one in this room he trusted the most. "Neji has already lost the byakugan, anyway. If he betrays us, its secrets will not be passed on to anybody else. Furthermore, Neji has always been very obedient and resigned to his servitude to the Main Branch, so I don't see why we would need to maintain such control over him."

Hiashi seemed to consider it, then he sighed heavily. "You have reason, Hanabi, but this is, as Yamanaka-san said, too controversial. I would have to discuss it with the clan elders…"

"We don't have that sort of time," Ino responded. "We are too afraid to provide Neji with nourishment or intravenous fluids in fear that it will make the poison worse or something of the sort. He grows weaker every day…"

"I cannot make a decision that the elders might oppose"—

"So," a voice interrupted from the doorway in almost a growl, "You value your status in the clan over Neji's life?" Everybody whirled to see Naruto standing there.

"Naruto!" Ino groaned. "I told you to stay out! Don't be disrespectful to the"—

"That cursed seal," Naruto growled, "Has destroyed Neji's life over and over again. Are you going to let it finally end it? It's a despicable practice, what you're doing! The way somebody was born should not affect how they are treated!"

Hiashi said calmly, "You're the one who beat Neji using the unfair nine-tails power? Uzumaki Naruto? Well, listen to me, boy. You have no place to speak to me like you are. The Hyuuga clan has worked this way since the founding of the Leaf. There is no need to fix something that is not broken."

"Not broken?" Naruto spluttered. "The branch members are being tortured!"

"The branch members understand that they are destined to serve."

"Oh yeah? Well, Neji here didn't seem too happy about that, if you remember his whole monologue during the Chuunin exams! Oh, wait, he's a branch member, his words mean nothing! If that's so, why are you here at his bedside? It's not like you care for your family at all!"

"Enough!" Hiashi bellowed. "You speak out of place, boy! I care for my family, but Neji is not the only family member I have! Removing the cursed seal from the head of a Hyuuga branch member could mean chaos! The whole Hyuuga regime would be gone!"

"If it's a regime bent on forcing slavery upon others, let it rot!" Naruto screamed.

Deadly silence. Death glares. Hiashi Hyuuga looked about ready to 128-palm the insolent, spiky-haired outcast.

Then Hinata walked to stand next to Naruto.

"Hinata?" Hiashi asked dangerously. "What is the meaning of this?"

Hinata was trembling, shaking like a leaf being blown off a tree. She was losing her grip on everything she'd been taught, but somehow, she knew it was right. Naruto was the correct one here. "F—father… I—I fought Neji d-during those exams. He tried to k—kill me. He was so upset with the way things worked that…he was ready to risk your melting his brain. Things are so unsatisfactory that… well…the threat of death…soon it won't be enough to contain the Branch members anymore. They should be defending us of…of their own will. All Hyuugas should reign by love, not fear. So even if removing the seal branded upon Neji will cause uproar…it is the r-right thing to do to save him. Please, father, move to abolish th—the use of the curse seal. O—or I will no longer be p—proud to be descended from Hyuuga."

Ino couldn't believe it. Timid, submissive Hinata was…taking a stand in her own way? She was willing to throw aside the clan? Naruto was gazing at the girl by his side. "Hinata-chan, you…"

Hanabi lowered her head.

Hiashi said only, "I will consult the elders and move to have Neji's curse seal deactivated in an effort to save the life of a valuable warrior. That is all. Hanabi, come."

Hanabi followed Hiashi out of the room, her feet dragging ever so slightly. She looked back at Hinata with an expression of…longing? Before she turned back and went after her father.

Hinata burst into tears, and Naruto instinctively placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hinata, what you just did was amazing…don't cry. Please don't cry."

At that, the purple-haired girl buried her head in Naruto's chest, but Ino could see the blush running up the back of her neck as she fainted.

"Eh? Hinata? What's wrong? Ino, what did I do?"

"Nothing," Ino replied, trying to stop a laugh. "But you should take care of Hinata for a while. She needs somewhere to live, since she won't be welcome with the Hyuuga. I'd offer myself, but then the Hyuuga would get angry at the Yamanaka and there would be a whole uproar. You've already pissed off Hyuuga enough…" Ino let out the laugh, tears of mirth starting to flow down her cheeks, even as Neji lay behind her, his life dwindling.

* * *

**Gosh, I seem to be abandoning Sasuke and Sakura's stories a bit :/ But we've heard a lot about them, so I thought we'd check in with the Leaf! So, Hinata grows a back bone -le gasp-, Naruto puts together feasible arguments -LE gasp-, Ino is working on Neji's case because Tsunade believes in her -LE GASP-, and Sakura actually comes up with a halfway believable lie! LE GAAAAAAAAAAASP!**

** And Hyuuga-bastard is a prick (yeah, no surprise there).**

**Thoughts? Suggestions for future events? Con-crit? REVIEEEWWWWWWW MY LOVLIES! MWAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAH**


	11. Situation

For once, Sasuke didn't dream about his brother, or the Uchiha, or anything Orochimaru-related. He dreamed about Naruto.

_He and Naruto were back there at the Valley of the End, sitting on the first hokage's statue. Naruto turned to him, that same stupid grin on his face as always. "Hey, bastard," he smirked. _

_Sasuke sighed. "I'm dreaming again, right? Why is it always you who shows up, moron?"_

"_Your subconscious knows," Naruto shrugged. "Obviously you're craving to see me again. Not surprised, what with my sweet, handsome looks—OW!" That last part was when Sasuke punched him in the face. But as soon as Naruto got over the pain, he started laughing. "You do realize you're hurting yourself? Emo bastard!"_

"_There is no way this could be any part of me," Sasuke groaned. _

"_I speculate—ooh, speculate, nice word, where'd I pick that up?— that you're jealous of my being so carefree. Which is bullshit," Naruto snorted. "I care about you, and you care about me, you know it. And as far as I know, you stole Sakura-chan. I don't know that she came of her own accord and that you'd do anything to make her go away. You know, it boggles me why you're being so polite to her anyway."_

"_Hn. Sakura has not yet infringed upon my lessons with Orochimaru, and in some situations she can cover for my lack of stamina with her own. Plus that fist of hers can do the damage I would do with a chidori."_

"_But you're pissed at the emotional aspects, aren't you?" Naruto prodded. "You were able to ignore Konoha until she came along with all her memories. And you don't like change, so her being dark and dreary upset your world."_

"_Lately she's childish again," Sasuke denied. "It was just a ruse to impress Orochimaru. What do you, oh holy subconscious, think motivated her to join him, anyway?"_

_Naruto—Sasuke's subconscious—thought for a while. Snapped his fingers and brought up a memory of Sakura turning in her sleep, murmuring, "No… don't hurt her, please… hurt me instead…"_

_Sasuke caught on and grunted. "How pathetic. She failed to save someone and got all prissy about it? She has to deal with the fact that she can't save everybody. She's too weak, and she'll stay that way."_

_Naruto glared. "Do you realize what you're saying? How did you react when that dude at the Land of Tea said you were the weakest of the Uchiha? Told you couldn't get strong? Sakura feels the same way!"_

"_Nobody understands how I feel!" Sasuke bit back. _

"_Oh, hasn't Sakura already gone over this with you?" Naruto practically yelled, rolling his eyes. "You're not the only lonely one here. What happened to your—our—clan is terrible, and we're going to kill Itachi for it. But if you insist anybody who doesn't understand your fucked-up emotions isn't worth your attention… that's despicable. You'll never revive the clan that way. Or have you forgotten the second part of our plan? Reviving the Uchiha, clearing their name, making them great again?"_

"_Not with Sakura."_

"_Why the hell not?"_

"_She's too weak. And annoying."_

"_Really? That's it? Otherwise you'd take her? So help her get stronger!"_

_Sasuke rounded on Naruto. "Why the hell do you care? I have to kill Itachi first. That's all. After that, I have a life ahead of me. Hell knows what I'm going to do!"_

"_You're avoiding the question." Naruto studied him. "You don't know the answer."_

"_At this point, my relationship with most people is neutral. I have only one enemy: Itachi. And I will hunt him down. I'm so close to the Akatsuki…"_

"Heiiji. Heiiji!" Sasuke felt himself being shaken awake. It was still dark out. Sakura was leaning over him, and hissed, "Damnit, Sasuke. You can't mutter in your sleep like usual, you're giving stuff away. Maintain your disguise!"

Sasuke glared at the girl. Because of the lack of light, her hair appeared as blue as everything else in the desert. Endless, endless dunes of sand.

"Sasuke, we've got to fool Gaara," Sakura pleaded quietly "Say something. He's awake."

"Sorry," Sasuke said loudly enough for Sakura to leap back and Gaara to stir. "Bad dream."

But now Gaara was sitting up. "It is best that we travel the desert during the night. During the day, it is warmer and more exhausting. If you are both up to it, we should start going now."

As Sasuke and Sakura got up, Gaara said, "I will use my sand to better transport us. It's quicker, and requires very little chakra." Not hearing any objections, Gaara made a few motions with his hand and the sand rose to his whim, forming a carriage and then eerie sand-horses.

Shrugging, Sakura and Sasuke cautiously walked towards the sand. Gaara and Sasuke sat in the front, while there was a back row for Sakura. Normally Sakura would have complained about being in the back, but she was too tongue-tied. "Your chakra control really is amazing, Gaara-san," she commented.

"Thank you," Gaara responded emotionlessly. "I hear yours is some of the best in your village."

Sakura blushed, like she knew she should. Like she would have.

"Aren't you worried your village is going to get attacked?" Sasuke asked. Sakura glared at the back of his head. Shouldn't he just be thankful that Gaara was agreeing to this in the first place?

"I trust my brother Kankuro and sister Temari to warn me if anything happens. We have…methods…of communication." With that, Gaara snapped the reigns, mostly for effect, and the sand horses shot forward.

They almost made it to sunrise.

* * *

TenTen burst through the double-doors to Neji's hospital room and collapsed at the bedside, no tears falling, just shock, mouth open in a silent gasp.

"This is my fault," she said numbly. "I should have convinced him... I...I messed up again, and I couldn't even catch Sasuke and Sakura..."

Completely forgetting the moment, Ino asked sharply, "You saw Sasuke and Sakura?"

TenTen looked up, face pale. "Yes. They were the ones who knocked me out, and I guess Sakura must have sent the note with my location...they...Ino, they're way too strong... Sasuke tortured him!"

"How? With genjutsu?" Ino ignored the depair in the tone, and continued gathering information- maybe Sasuke's genjutsu was what was causing Neji's coma... but it was so complex, and Ino had felt Sasuke's genjutsu marks before, this didn't have the same feel.

"Yeah. Physical pain for me, and I'm not sure what he showed him but Neji was screaming something along the lines of 'No! Me instead'." His cries still rung in TenTen's ears, and it took a moment for her to collect herself. "They...it looked like they were heading to the Sand."

"We've already sent a messenger bird to the Sand explaining the situation. They know about the traitor. But just in case, we should warn them who's heading their way. TenTen, do you know who could have done this?"

"It doesn't look like Sasuke or Sakura's handiwork. It can't have been, anyway, as he was heading back to the village after we had an...argument. It's my fault..." Ino knew it was no use trying to ask more; TenTen had gone into numb unresponsive mode. It was then that Gai burst into the room, and, bless him, rather than weeping over Neji immediately, wrapped TenTen in strong arms like a father and said absolutely nothing.

That, for Gai, was definitely a first.

* * *

Ino had offered to take her team out to lunch to discuss what they think could have happened- which, with Chouji's appetite, was almost suicide- but none of them had been able except for Shikamaru. That was okay. Shikamaru was the smartest one who could help the most, and it was better for him than laying on his back watching clouds anyway.

So over some sushi they discussed... well, a lot. Shikamaru had come to much the same conclusions as her, but had something new to bring up. "Why are Sakura and Sasuke out and about anyway? Shouldn't they be training with Orochimaru? Either they quit, or they have a mission. If their mission is taking them to the Sand, where Gaara is...well, many have had the suspicion that Orochimaru, like Akatsuki, is after tailed-beasts. Maybe they're going after the one-tails, in which case we're in trouble."

"You could be right," Ino said, tapping her chin with a chopstick. "If Naruto finds out, he'll do something rash without a doubt. I mean... you know right?"

"Know what?" Shikamaru frowned.

"Where Naruto gets his power from... you were told, right?"

"Uh, no. But now that I think about it. At the chuunin exams, there was that red chakra spiraling from him... and right when he should have been a baby, the attack of the..." Shikamaru's eyes widened. "No way! The nine-tailed fox? Naruto's a Jinchuuriki? That would explain so much! Lack of parents, him being left out..." Shikamaru was in one of his thinking-trances, information just spewing out of his mouth. "Only the Fourth could have sealed the fox, though... makes me wonder why he chose Naruto-maybe his parents were killed. Or maybe...nah, no way, it's not possible."

"What?" Ino asked, curious though they'd strayed from the topic.

"No. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I'd better ask Lady Hokage a few things... do you, by any chance, know who the Fourth's wife was?"

Ino shook her head. "No. What does that have to do with anything? Anyway, I'm due to check on Neji and report to Tsunade, so if you want to talk to her you may as well come with."

Ino and Shikamaru were surprised to find two others already at the Hokage's office: Kiba Inuzuka (with Akamaru) and Kakashi. Tsunade folded her hands in the way she only did when there was serious trouble, and Ino forgot all about her report. "TenTen told me Haruno and Uchiha were going to the sand, and the Sand's kazekage has mysteriously disappeared with two individuals. We have been called on to do a retrieval mission, because the Sand's forces were all but wiped out by strange bombs. I also anticipate the involvement of a third party; Haruno and Uchiha don't have bombs. I'm sending this because a medical nin and a tracker are needed, along with Shikamaru's intelligence and Kakashi's experience. Ino, I will keep Neji alive while you're gone. I'm sorry. But only this group can do it. This is an S class mission. You start in ten minutes; there's no time to lose. Go to the Sand and track Sakura's scent, Kiba, and you will probably found Gaara."

Ino opened her mouth to object. Kiba beat her to it.

"But Hokage-sama, I don't have something to reference her scent from," Kiba said. Tsunade wilted.

Ino's eyes fell. "I do." All eyes on her, she reached into her pack and pulled out Sakura's red ribbon which had originally been hers. She was hard-pressed to let go of it and drop it into Kiba's hands. Kiba and Akamaru both sniffed at it. Kiba nodded.

"This is Sakura's scent all right… I'm up to it."

"Good. Oh and… Naruto is not to know about this, is that understood?"

"Right," the team chorused.

And so Gaara's rescue mission commenced.

* * *

Sasori narrowed his eyes. Deidara was returning, and it was awfully quickly. He couldn't possibly have finished off the Jinchuuriki in that time.

"Well?" he growled.

"Sorry, Master Sasori. But the Kazekage isn't there, nope. He's left. My, ah, sources tell me that he's traveling toward Kumo. Left only an hour or two ago; we should be able to catch up to him, hm... But apparently he went with some people. We may end up facing more than one shinobi. So, what about it, boss? Do we tell Leader-sama we failed or go after them?"

"We're going to go. And let's hurry. I don't like to keep Leader waiting."

They flew on Deidara's birds until they saw a sand chariot, far ahead in the distance. They glanced at each other.

"That'll be them. They're so slow, un. I count three."

"This will be too easy."

Then Deidara spotted something alarming. "Uh, Master?"

"What is it, brat?"

"That girl from Orochimaru's, the one with pink hair? She's with them."

Sasori snarled. "So, Orochimaru's after the one-tails as well? More complications… this could take longer than we expected."

* * *

In unison, all three ninja riding through the desert became alert. The sand-chariot collapsed and Gaara, Sakura, and Sasuke leaped out. They'd all felt the chakra-spike, and the chakra was getting ever closer. But it wasn't from in front, behind, left, right…

"Above!" Sakura whispered, before she was hit by a falling white object. She scrambled away from it, and just in time too, because it exploded. It wasn't a large explosion, but certainly would have blown her eyes out if it had landed anywhere near them. Gaara was already sweeping her onto a block of sand, Sasuke following in her wake, and flying them up to be eye-level with the huge clay bird. As soon as they got a clear view of the silhouettes, Sasuke tensed.

"Akatsuki," he hissed in his normal voice, causing Gaara to look at him sharply. But Sasuke was beyond caring. He was glancing meaningfully at Sakura, his countenance screaming _Now's our chance. You take care of Gaara and I'll take the Akatsuki. _Sakura responded with a desperate look, begging him, _No, Sasuke, don't lose your head yet. We still need Gaara as an ally. Let him help us. Our mission isn't to kill the Akatsuki, it's to get the rings and the eight-tails! _Sasuke gave her a withering glare: _To hell with the mission._

It was funny how much one look could convey.

"Heiiji has had a few…bad run-ins with Akatsuki," Sakura tried to explain lamely. But of course her cover was blown when the blond Akatsuki, who she hadn't seen before, called,

"So, you're out on a mission for Orochimaru, yeah? Where's your dark-haired buddy, is that other one him?"

Sakura watched as Gaara's expression actually changed. First there was surprise, then disbelief, then, slowly, he turned his head toward Sakura. "Sakura…what is the meaning of this…?"

Sakura lowered her head. She really regretted having to do this. "I'm sorry, Gaara-san. But I… I'm a nuke-nin."

Gaara caught on quickly. He slowly turned around. "Uchiha Sasuke. Good to see you again…or not."

* * *

Naruto scratched his head nervously as he opened the door to his flat. "Uh, this is my place, Hinata-chan… I know it's not much, but, heh, you know I spend all my money on ramen!"

Hinata gave a small smile and stepped inside after Naruto, catching the door which almost slammed on her back. Naruto had about as much manners as a dung beetle, but she wasn't complaining. It was extremely kind of him to offer her a place to stay. She didn't deserve it, and she was nervous as heck. She was in _Naruto's house! Naruto's!_

He gave her a quick tour, clearly feeling absolutely no shame at the fact that the place looked like it had been ransacked. Undergarments strewn on the floor, styrofoam ramen cups on the torn and damaged sofa, scrolls unrolled and hanging off the shelves, the window open so that the shutters banged against the wall with every gust of wind. The odor from the bathroom was so rancid that Hinata literally gagged, concealing it from Naruto at the last moment. It was…certainly a change from the clean, neat Hyuuga household.

"Uh, so, where d'you wanna sleep?" Naruto asked, scratching his neck again. "You can sleep on the sofa, or my bed, or the floor."

Hinata remembered the smell of old sandals and morning breath and other things in the sad excuse for a room Naruto slept in (it was about as big as her walk-in closet at home).

"T-the c-couch is fine," she replied.

"Alright!" Naruto said enthusiastically. "So it's about the time I go to sleep, so do ya wanna have some ramen then crash?"

Hinata gave a small nod of assent. Naruto stuck two instant ramen packs in the microwave, which, of course, burned because he had entirely forgotten to add water. Naruto spent a moment frantically trying to put out the fire until Hinata finally put it out with a water jutsu.

"Huh? Hinata?" Naruto looked at her, surprised. "You know water-style jutsu? I thought the Hyuuga only knew the Byakugan moves!"

Hinata had been avoiding thinking of her clan for the past hour, and now that it had been mentioned the dam burst. Tears started to flow down her face.

"Eh? Hinata? Why're you crying?"

"I-I'm fine," Hinata gasped out. "I just want to sleep…"

"Oh…okay then. I'm not that hungry anyway… I guess I'll see you in the mor—"

And then all the candles that had been lighting the room flickered out simultaneously. It was complete darkness but for the fading, blueish light outside.

Naruto laughed uneasily. "Heh, I can't find my bed in this light, I guess I'll just take the couch then…good night Hinata!" and with that he was bounding off, flopping down on the couch, and snoring before Hinata could get out "Wait!". Clearly, he didn't find this weird at all.

Hinata stumbled over a few scrolls, which gave her an idea. She lay down and put her head on it, grabbing a random jacket Naruto had left around and using it as a cover. With that she curled up and let all the tears out, let sobs rack her body.

When she was done, she felt safe, and warm, Naruto's snores reassuring, and even the putrid stench from the bathroom felt welcoming and familiar. She realized she didn't miss the Hyuuga household, with its perfection and coldness and slaves. She could stay right here on Naruto's stained carpet forever.

* * *

Gaara swung a fist. Sasuke, who had released the transforming jutsu, blocked and pushed Gaara. They grappled—and fell off the sand block.

Sakura landed hard, though they hadn't been too high in the air. She got up, warily keeping an eye on the sky and the Akatsuki members.

Gaara made hand signs and sand fashioned into a bird. Sasuke thought it was going to attack him, but instead, it flew away at a velocity that he couldn't even see it after two seconds. Of course—Gaara was sending a cry of help to his siblings. Pathetic.

Sasuke recalled his first fight against Gaara. The strategy was to move as quickly as possible, then launch two attacks: a physical one to distract the sand, then ram in a chidori to finish him off…but before Sasuke could put action to his thoughts, Gaara said,

"Uchiha…as the kazekage, I'm prone to certain information from the Leaf. The way I see it, we have a common enemy. Obviously you asked me to come with you because you wanted me to finish off the eight-tails—who, now that I consider it, you were lying about—and you wanted something from me. But I'm not your target. No matter what Orochimaru's mission was, you want to get the Akatsuki. Let's make a truce and take care of these enemies."

Sasuke closed his eyes. Irritating, but he had a point.

"Right," he said brusquely.

"So what is it you wanted from me?" Gaara asked.

"The ring on your finger," Sasuke said. Gaara glanced down at his hand and pulled off the jewelry.

"It has no particular meaning to me, and I expect you have more need of it than I. I'll say it fell off my hand. You can have it." He tossed it at Sasuke.

Surprised at how easy that had been though still angry at his plans being fucked up, Sasuke turned back to the Akatsuki.

He turned his head right back when the sand bird from earlier arrived back, and Kankuro, Temari, and Matsuri leaped down next to Gaara. That was quite a fast bird. They immediately saw Sasuke and attacked, but Gaara, foreseeing this, had already blocked them with sand. His siblings and pupil looked at him questioningly.

"He's on our side for now, and so is she," Gaara told them. "The enemy here are the Akatsuki on that bird."

Said Akatsuki were growing tired of watching the exchange. Sasori growled, "There are quite a few of you, aren't there? I'll just handle you with my puppets—a lot of them. I usually don't resort to this, but I want to finish this up as quickly as possible." He pulled out a scroll, Deidara watching him in surprise that he was already pulling out his second-to-last defense, and placed his palm on it. Hundreds of puppets poured out, and Sakura's only thought was _Oh shi… _before she was violently thrown into battle. Everything was just moving too quickly—one moment she's speeding around in a chariot, the next she's fighting for her life—and she was taking a whole lot more injuries than usual.

* * *

"Looks we arrived just in the nick of time," Shikamaru commented as his team neared the scene of the battle.

Gaara turned his head—in time to get hit in the back of the leg by Deidara's bomb. He crumpled. Deidara rode in on the bird and swept Gaara up, Sasori leaping on as well. Before anybody could move a muscle, Gaara and Deidara were several kilometers away and fading into the distance.

Kankuro, Temari and Matsuri were already running after them, but they could never catch up in time…

And Sasori's hundreds of puppets remained, launching the attack on the first targets spotted: Sakura and Sasuke.

"Got that right," Kakashi said grimly.

"We follow them, right? It's our job to save Gaara."

Ino glared at Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru's right, I can still smell Gaara and I'm the only chance anyone has. And we need you to heal Gaara." Kiba was acting surprisingly intelligent.

"They're going to get killed." Ino looked pleadingly at Kakashi and gesturing to the ongoing fight, Sasuke and Sakura driven into a metaphoric corner.

"I know, Ino, I know," he said heavily. "But it was their choice to leave. It's not our concern whether they live or die."

"It is too—!"

"Ino, just shut up," Shikamaru interrupted uncharacteristically harshly. "Let's go."

And that's the story of how Sakura and Sasuke were left to fight for their lives against 100 top-class puppets armed with every weapon imaginable.

* * *

**AN: Okay, so that second half of the chapter was a bit bleh. But I really wanted to get this up.**

**I actually have some free time now, so expect more frequent updates.**

**Didn't proofread this. Might edit later.  
**

**I love you guys! : )**


	12. Sacrifice

Hinata got up early that day, filled with determination.

She knew the way to save Neji, or at least something that would help him recover.

It was something only she could do. And she was surprised to find that she wasn't scared, though it could mean her death.

Naruto was still snoring on the couch.

Hinata crept out of the flat, though Naruto was probably a heavy sleeper anyway, and breathed in the brisk morning air. Dew still shone on the grass around her, and it was like she was seeing it for the first time. She was allowed to stare at it as long as she wished; there was no servant saying "Come along, Hinata-sama, we have somewhere to be." She was _free._ She felt elated like she never had before; she was running through the streets of Konoha almost silently, taking in everything. It was like seeing with entirely different eyes.

She arrived at the Hyuuga compound and recalled the map and how she could get inside without being seen. This was difficult because there was a night guard; however, it changed at around 5:30. In those few minutes it took the practiced guard to change, she could attempt to conceal herself from byakugan and creep into the library's restricted section which surely contained the scroll she needed.

Hinata crouched in an almost predatory manner and activated her byakugan. Her room was almost right above the library, and normally she was not to be disturbed until 7:00 so guards would refrain from entering or looking inside. However, perhaps her father had told the guards to disregard that rule and wait for her return…

Her best chance was still to get into her own room, which was sure to be deserted.

She sneaked around the side of the building and silently a tree, checking that the occupants of any room with the window facing her way were asleep. There was a windowpane that would be extremely difficult to balance on, and the window was closed. Hinata didn't dare smash it with a kunai; that would make noise. She kept her Byakugan activated—the guard was on the other end of the hall.

Biting her lip, Hinata took a chance and leaped onto the windowpane. She flailed for a moment to keep her balance, then lost it and started to fall. She grabbed onto the edge of the pane, but now her feet were hanging over the window of somebody else's room and knocked into it dangerously. Then she recalled that this room was Neji's. There would be nobody inside it at the moment. Hinata closed her eyes, calming herself despite the burning of her muscles as she hung on to her windowpane. There was no way of swinging back up—there wasn't enough surface area to find purchase. Either way, her window was locked so it would be impossible to get in without making noise. Neji, on the other hand, probably didn't bother locking his window as he was a light sleeper and liked a bit of air. Thus, the window was just barely open and nobody had bothered to close it.

The guards definitely wouldn't be checking Neji's room.

Hinata steeled herself and let herself fall, this time managing to grab a bit of wood sticking out of the house's wall as a handhold and balance on the pane as a foothold. She ever so carefully eased the Neji's window open with her foot and slipped inside, landing noiselessly on the carpet.

Neji's room was much tackier than hers. The rooms got fancier with each level up. The Hyuuga compound was one of the few buildings with many floors in Konoha. And Neji didn't bother projecting his personality onto his room; while Hinata had put up photos of her friends and painted the walls purple Neji's was simply white. The bed was perfectly made. The only thing that showed it had ever been lived in was a single scroll on the ground. Judging by what TenTen had explained to her directly after being returned by a retrieval team, this was when she'd appeared on Neji's windowsill and suggested that they go avenge Lee. TenTen was a good friend of Hinata's, right from after the chuunin exams. Neither of them were really friends with Sakura or Ino because they didn't understand the obsession with Sasuke, and the fangirls also found Hinata and TenTen weird. However, once Sasuke had left Hinata and her started to become closer and Ino liked to fuss over her appearance and make her look nice for any event. Still, TenTen was closer to Hinata than either of them, and Hinata could tell that once she informed TenTen of Neji's fate she broke a little inside.

Hinata shook her head and forced herself back into the moment. There was a guard on this level who was coming close. He would see her soon!

It occurred to Hinata that the guards couldn't possibly keep the Byakugan activated for all 6 hours of their shift. It would drain enormous amounts of chakra, and the Hyuuga were not known for their chakra stores. They were quite pathetic actually. So maybe…just maybe the guard couldn't see through the door. Hinata concentrated on the guard's face with her own Byakugan—which was indeed straining her chakra reserves for keeping it activated for so long without battle adrenaline fueling her—and smiled. She'd been right. The guards apparently relied on noise, which was silly because a trained assassin would be silent. She would have to tell Father about that—oh, wait, she was no longer a Hyuuga. Oops.

Yesterday, she would have felt nervous and guilty about breaking into her own house. Now, she was just elated.

The library was now next door. Should she risk slipping out and trying to sneak into the library? No. She should wait for the guard to change. She checked the clock on the wall; it read 5:28. The guard would be changing right about now, and sure enough the guard stopped to report to the one taking his place. Hinata used this chance to slip out silently, then speed down the hall into the library, hoping the door wouldn't slam. She immediately ducked down beneath a shelf so that anybody walking in the hall would not see her through the glass.

The door slammed, and she winced. Her byakugan showed the new guard looking down the hall sharply, and walking toward the library. Oh no. What if he used his byakugan to check if there was an intruder or something? There was nowhere she could hide from the byakugan…

Then she realized something: were the Restricted section of the library not byakugan-proof, anybody could look inside and read any scrolls in the room, if with some difficulty. So in the room she would be safe.

But she soon realized the flaw in her plans—there was a guard at the Restricted section which changed only once a day, and it wasn't now. She would have to convince the guard she could get in. She had to take on the form of a qualified elder to get in. But if either guard used the byakugan or sensed a genjutsu, she was finished.

For a moment, she panicked. She shouldn't have attempted this, or should have thought it through more. She could die if thought to be an intruder! She wasn't good enough for this!

Then she remembered Neji lying on the bed, his eyes gouged out. She remembered Neji throwing himself in front of an attacker to save her one of the few times they'd been on a mission. She remembered that one time Neji had smiled down at her when they had been much younger, pride in his eyes. _"You're learning fast, Hinata-sama."_

Neji was more than just a cousin to her. He was her brother.

She made the hand signs and whispered "_henge_", walking out innocently to the guard of the Restricted section.

"Hiashi-sama," the guard said, surprised. "You are up early. Might I ask—?"

"I had trouble sleeping," Hinata said, glad she had used some extra chakra to change her vocal chords so her voice would match timbre of her father. "I would like to look at something."

"Of course," the Hyuuga nodded, and let Hinata pass.

Hinata couldn't believe it had been so easy. Security really was rather lax. She entered the restricted section, and her breath left her.

It was much, much bigger than it appeared from the outside; bigger than the library itself. Shelves and shelves of scrolls, lavish armchairs and fancy paintings and carpets laid out. It had the musty scent of old paper, and she instinctively knew that these scrolls, some of them at least, were older than the Leaf Village itself. The ceiling was impossibly high and made of a material that one could see through only from one side, so that natural light filtered through but outsiders could not see in, and fragile chandeliers hovered from the top. There were small tables set out with candles—the chandeliers had not yet been lit. It was just the blue light of dawn and the yellow light of candles. There were empty scrolls with paintbrushes and pencils also set out.

There was a librarian already working; clearly it was a common occurrence for some to come here even at the crack of dawn. In fact, Hinata noted that there were a few elders already around as the door shut behind her with a small _clank. _

The librarian, a young woman wearing glasses with dark hair piled up on the top of her head in a bun, came up to Hinata and said in a low but courteous voice, "Hello, Hiashi-sama. Is there something I may help you with or would you just like to browse?"

Hinata found her—or rather, her father's—voice at last.

"I'd like to see the scroll on the removal of the cursed seal."

* * *

The puppets just kept coming.

Sometimes Sasuke and she would end up back-to-back, but there was never any time to make a plan except the occasional order of "Get away, I'm going to use a fireball" or "cover me, I'm going to charge them" or "watch out, their weapons are spiked with poison."

Sakura and Sasuke may have been training in the same building for about a year at this point, but they mostly avoided each other and did what they could to avoid being a team. Now that they were facing a common enemy, they had to learn how to complement each other's abilities quickly. This was a battle where a single scratch could be lethal. No puppet was the same as another; there was no telling what weapon would be launched at them. I mean, who the hell uses a _battleaxe_ as a _projectile_ weapon?

I'd like to tell you that they both somehow got out of it without suffering a scratch, and then went on to complete their mission, but, well, that wasn't the case.

Sakura didn't know how long she'd been fighting; all she knew was that it was too long. Even though it took very little chakra to fuel each individual punch, she had to use so many of them as well as to leap high into the air or kick that it was draining away slowly but surely. After a while, she tried to detach herself, just let her body do the work, but the fatigue in her muscles stopped her. It screamed at her to pay attention, to end the battle. But there seemed to be no end to the enemies, and they weren't even facing the actual Akatsuki member!

She took down another puppet.

_Will this never end?_

* * *

Sasuke looked over to check on Sakura—only to see a puppet raising its arm and…

Everything seemed to slow as his sharingan told him what would happen next. "SAKURA!" he screamed, and suddenly it was like he was in the ice mirrors again, and it was the long-haired boy flitting around, and the senbon were too fast. She could never react in time; she was only looking up now…a blade caught him in the arm, and agony raced up to his shoulder.

He sprinted.

* * *

Sakura rammed her fist into the skull of another puppet, narrowly ignoring the mace it was wielding. In the noise, the explosions, the sound of metal against metal, she almost didn't hear the warning.

"SAKURA!" Sasuke yelled, in a fashion that Uchiha never did. Sakura looked up from her fight, barely, in time to see at least 100 senbon flying straight at her. There was no time to dodge or do anything... all she could do was close her eyes and wait for them to hit.

But they didn't.

Sakura cracked an eye open in time to see Sasuke's back and watch him fall, almost in slow motion, to the ground. She slid and caught him, already knowing what had happened and that the senbon had hit vital points, aimed impeccably. "No!" she screamed. "NO! Why the hell would you do that? How could you?"

"I don't know...my body just moved on its own." Sakura recognized the weakly choked out words from when Naruto had recounted exactly what happened in the land of waves. His face was deathly pale, blood flowing steadily from his mouth.

"Hang on, Sasuke," she said desperately as she dodged another kunai whizzing by her side, caught it, and threw it hard at the senbon puppet, causing it to explode. "I-I'm going to save you. I'm a medic-nin, after all." Sakura had never been a good liar, and Sasuke easily picked out the bluff.

"Kill Itachi...he has to die," Sasuke rasped out. "Tell Naruto that..." he coughed up blood.

"Shut up," Sakura snapped. She swiftly pulled out a senbon lodged into his heart. "It's no time to be saying your last words, you have to be as still as possible for me. I have to get us out of here"-she dodged a sloppily aimed senbon-"So just shut up!"

"No." Sasuke's coughs got weaker. "Sakura…I'm sorry for…"

Sakura bit her lip and shook her head, bodily heaved Sasuke onto her shoulder, and ran. Ran as hard as she could for as long as she could, ignoring the three kunai that flew into her arm and barely missed Sasuke. Finally she got out of the battle, far away, and collapsed on a rock. But there was no time to catch her breath or attend to her own wounds. The three kunai injuries would be troublesome, but Sasuke was the priority here. She pulled out the senbon as fast as she could, pouring out all her chakra to reconstruct nerves. She knew it couldn't be a very comfortable process, but Sasuke was at this point unconscious anyway. At the rate she was going, however, she knew there was no way she'd have enough power. The poison also had to be driven out, since there was no time to fashion an antidote. Her muscles were already weakening. All she needed was more power, more capacity, more speed. To breach her physical limits and...

Lee. Rock Lee. Sakura forced back tears as she remembered the hidden lotus and its user. The gates. She needed to open the gates. It was impossible to learn, but she still had to do it. She'd learned the Hokage techniques...she was a bit of a copy ninja, wasn't she? She tried to recall. Could the lotus even be used for medical chakra? No. Too risky. The lotus was out of the question.

_If I activate my curse seal,_ _Kabuto said it's very difficult to call forth medical chakra,_ she thought. _But he said difficult, not impossible. It's my only chance. I bet it'll be more difficult, but… I can do this._

So, with a breath, Sakura let the markings crawl up her neck and around the left side of her body. They burned into her flesh, but she didn't notice as she kept pouring out chakra.

_Going into second form is dangerous, _Sasuke had told her. _You can get stuck that way if things go wrong, and it uses up a lot of energy though it increases your capabilities._

She needed those capabilities. She continued to let the curse seal envelope her, not paying attention as her body grayed and weird things sprouted from it. All she was aware of was that her hands were now moving lightning fast to pluck the senbon, and her chakra, which had a different feel, was rushing through Sasuke's veins. His eyes flew open, and he let out a scream of pain, thrashing.

"Keep still, damn it!" Sakura yelled, but it was no use; Sasuke was blinded and deafened by pain. Sakura suspected her chakra was destroying a bit more than just the poison and needle fragments, but there was no way to stop it now. She was down to the last ten senbon, last five, last two. The last one was lodged straight in his forehead, and Sakura had to be extremely careful with it.

She kept sending chakra even though the senbon were gone in order to purge the existing poison. The chakra that was currently filled with the poison and senbon fragments had to be sent somewhere other than Sasuke's body. Sakura couldn't very well keep it to herself; it would kill her. So with an enormous effort, she forced the chakra out of Sasuke and, in the form of just a huge ball of energy, sent it toward a nearby rock. The rock exploded; Sakura shielded Sasuke with her body as well as she could, wincing whenever a rock bit into her flesh. She realized the curse seal had faded, and she was feeling utterly spent. When the explosion faded, Sakura collapsed and it was all she could do to roll away from Sasuke before she passed out.

* * *

"Hey...you awake?"

Everything was hazy. Her everything hurt. She was pretty sure she didn't even have enough chakra to _conceal_ her chakra.

"Sakura. Wake up."

Who the hell would be so cruel? Waking up would mean _moving, _which was bound to be excruciatingly painful.

_Slap._

Sakura shot up, pain simultaneously roping up her cheek and back. "You slapped me!" she said accusingly, looking at Sasuke.

"You weren't responding."

"Why you-" then it hit her. "Hey...you're alive!"

Sasuke stiffened. "Yes."

"Do you remember anything?"

"No, not much. I guess I got hit with senbon, judging by the fact that I'm having difficulty moving my body. About a hundred. Which makes me wonder how the hell I'm alive. All I know is that I woke up to find both of us in a pool of dried blood, you on your stomach with a huge rock sticking out of your back. I washed it out with water. You'll want to take a look at it."

"Hahah, yeah, I guess a rock must have exploded." Sakura figured it would be better not to tell Sasuke what had really happened. He wouldn't want to be in her debt, and probably wouldn't believe her anyway. She checked the wounds on her back, and realized she couldn't yet heal them.

"You're out of chakra," Sasuke observed. "You must've exerted yourself somehow."

"Er... I activated the curse seal," she said truthfully. "I went second form."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but he thankfully wasn't the type to pry and left it at that. In fact, he was going into brooding mode. "Akatsuki was there and we couldn't even touch them, and I'm thinking they got the one-tails. We've failed our mission."

"Well, you did get the ring," Sakura said. Sasuke nodded. "Still, going back to Orochimaru is going to be interesting. He wants your body so he won't harm you. Me, on the other hand... still, he gave us a deadline to be back and we're almost at it so we should head back."

Sasuke only nodded.

Sakura glanced behind the rock, then collapsed back. "Sasuke, there's a problem."

"…"

"There are just about 75 puppets still out there. I guess they can't sense us, but the Akatsuki hasn't called them back yet. The moment we show our faces, we're screwed."

"We have to conceal ourselves, in that case," Sasuke said. "I am in no condition to fight them, as much as I hate to admit it."

"I don't have any chakra," Sakura admitted.

"What we need is someone else to take care of them for us."

"Your wish is my command," Kakashi's voice said.

* * *

Both Sasuke and Sakura jerked, grabbed weapons from their holsters, and turned toward the voice. It was quite astonishing that they hadn't noticed two teams of ninja sneaking up on them… standing there was Kakashi, Ino, Shikamaru, Kiba, Temari, Matsuri, and Kankuro carrying an unconscious Gaara.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked coldly, acting as though he were still the superior one. As if in this state, these nin couldn't kill him with a simple kunai.

"We have a deal to make with you."

"You're dealing with nukenin?" Sakura asked.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Kakashi said. He was obviously trying hard to keep his tone controlled. "We've managed to trick the Akatsuki, but not for long. They'll come after us. Sakura, Ino needs help with healing Gaara. She can supply you with the chakra to do it. In return—we'll take care of the remaining puppets, since you're obviously in no shape to handle them."

"I can still take them," Sakura tried. Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Sasuke isn't the only sharingan user. I saw from a kilometer away that you're out of chakra, Sakura. Don't try it."

"And if we refuse?" Sasuke, who had been attempting to make eye contact with any one of the team but failing since they knew better than that, asked.

"You can deal with the puppets yourself," Shikamaru answered.

"Why don't you just kill us and get it over with?" Sasuke asked casually, but Sakura answered the question for him.

"They're delusional. They still intend on getting us back to the village. And by all means let them try." She sent a steely look right at Ino. "But not this time. If I accept this deal, you are to let us go this once. After that it's fair game."

"And how do you know we'll hold to that?" Ino asked in a small voice.

"The Leaf's pointless sense of honor," Sasuke answered.

There was a silence as various glances, glares, and meaningful looks were exchanged.

Kakashi stepped forward. "So, is it a deal?" He held out his hand.

Sakura looked at the dying red-head. Akatsuki must have gotten their hands on him. "He tried to kill me once," she mused aloud.

Temari strode forward, seized her by the front of her sound-uniform, and hissed, "Look, you traitorous _bitch_, I don't care about this little feud, just say yes or no and stop wasting our time!"

Woah. Stressed-out much? "Temari, that was not at all helpful," Shikamaru muttered.

Sakura merely looked at Temari for a moment, then pushed her hand away. Then she extended her hand to Kakashi, looking at Sasuke who seemed emotionless (yeah, so what else is new?).

"It's a deal," Sakura said.

**AN: Another sort of concealed SasuSaku moment... maybe. It just doesn't feel right to have them lovey-dovey..._yet_. I have to build up to that if that's the path I want to take with this fic, but I may just make them end up hating each other.  
**

**I got really into writing Hinata's stealth mission. I'm sorry. It was just so enthralling to have her sneaking around her ex-home, transforming into her father, and I could just see the library in my brain…gosh, I want to be there someday.**

**Hope the speed of this update was better! My muse cooperated for once! And I have a tiny bit of the next chapter written.**

**Reviews are what keep me going, please keep them coming! Those of you who just read and story-alert- yeah, I know, I do the same thing sometimes. But please try reviewing, just a few chapters. It makes both of us feel warm and fuzzy inside :)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	13. Healing

"What's the situation?" Sakura asked Ino blankly.

Ino swallowed and struggled to maintain professionalism. "P—patient is half-drained of chakra, almost lost the One-tails. Wounds include head trauma and lacerations along the arm and torso. I have healed the lighter ones on his leg already."

"Take care of the lacerations, I trust you're experienced enough for that," Sakura ordered without a hitch in her voice. Ino gulped and turned Gaara over, her hands shaking as she took care of the injuries. Once she finished, Sakura instructed,

"I need to borrow your chakra; mine is depleted. Place your hands on top of mine." Sakura put her hands on Gaara's temples, and, trembling, Ino touched her hands just barely. She felt her chakra being steadily drained from her fingertips. She worked to find enough courage to ask what she was wondering.

"C—could you explain what you are doing?" She asked, proud of how assertive her voice sounded. Sakura glanced at her sharply, then sighed.

"I am using the chakra to travel through his head and blood, examining what sort of damage the Akatsuki did. When one gains enough control over their chakra, their chakra begins to sense for them and send information back; thus, I can feel where the Akatsuki drew out the chakra and close up the wounds they made so that the patient can store chakra again. I can't replace the tailed beast; his only chance is that it is self-regenerating. In all likelihood, it will be less powerful. Hopefully it won't leak out through some hole I can't find."

"So…there are holes in his brain?" Ino asked, trying to understand.

For a moment, Sakura forgot herself. She smiled and said chidingly, "No, Pig. They're holes in the chakra vein that flows around and through his brain." Then she realized the familiarity with which she had spoken and promptly shut up.

Ino looked away to stop her smile from being seen.

Sakura was still there.

Forehead still lived.

* * *

It was almost too easy to take care of the puppets, what with Kankuro knowing what sort of weapons they could have and their weak points. He received a shock when he saw the brand on the puppets' shoulder—Sasori of the Red Sand—but decided it would be better not to mention it. Shikamaru restrained the puppets in time for somebody else to take care of them. Kakashi took out five at once by making the earth around them shatter and turn into a chasm. Temari's fan sliced through the joints—she knew where they were, because she sparred with Kankuro sometimes and knew how puppets were fundamentally built. Kiba's pure strength and Matsuri's skill with weapons was a great asset as well.

Sasuke couldn't move, so he could do nothing but glare, sulk, and watch as Sakura healed Gaara. He focused on moving each of his fingers, and found that his left middle finger wouldn't move at the second knuckle. There were several other areas like this around his body that just wouldn't move. Obviously Sakura had reconstructed some of his nerves but sloppily.

Soon all the puppets were gone, and an almost unscathed team walked over to watch Gaara's healing.

Sasuke observed the way Sakura's lips tightened. She clearly didn't enjoy having an audience.

After a few seconds, Sakura stood up. "I've fixed most of the problem. He lost about a third of his Tailed Beast, and I don't have enough experience to know what that means. However, I've reconstructed his chakra system so that he can store chakra again. I gave him a boost. He should come to in about an hour."

"Right…" Ino looked uneasy. "So this is…goodbye?"

"I require one more thing, actually," Sakura said. "There are some wounds on my back which I can't reach, nor do I yet have the chakra to heal them. Would you do it?"

"Of course," Ino agreed. Her teammates scowled, giving her loaded looks that said _Be on your guard. _She walked over as Sakura turned her back to them and lifted up Sakura's shirt to find an undershirt soaked with blood. Ino bit her lip. She could deal with blood, but if the cuts were infected and pus was flowing out…that would be annoying for her to heal. Unfortunately, after she'd pushed up the undershirt she saw that the cuts were indeed infected. Not only that, but they'd appeared on top of other scars, long lacerated strokes. She didn't want to know how they'd originally gotten there—they looked like whip marks. The newer cuts had sand fragments inside. "The cuts are infected, Sakura. I brought some herbs in my pack that can draw it out. Do you mind if I use them?"

"Go ahead," Sakura said.

Ino tended to the wounds, Sakura not even wincing when it should have hurt like hell. The only explanation was that she'd built up a pain tolerance. Ino bandaged up the cuts. "It's done, Sakura. Now you owe me," Ino told her. Sakura's fist clenched.

"What do I owe you, then?"

"An explanation. I want one reason you left Konoha."

"That's easy. To gain power."

"You can do that in the Leaf as well!"

"I learned more in one month under Orochimaru than I learned in all my years under Iruka, Kakashi, and Tsunade. Is that all? I have places to be."

"Yeah. That's it."

Then Sasuke spoke sharply, "Where's Kakashi?" Sakura narrowed her eyes and looked around. Sasuke struggled to activate his sharingan, but was unsuccessful. In a flash, Shikamaru was using his shadow bind and restraining both of them, and Sasuke felt the earth behind them erupt and a figure jump out. He tried to get out of the bind, but his chakra was depleted and he couldn't even move that well.

Kakashi, who had stepped out from the ground, seized the nukenin's wrists and tied them together with a chakra handcuff. "So much for Konoha honor," Sasuke growled.

"Neither Konoha nor Suna makes deals with petty criminals," Temari said. "I believe our work here is done. We'll head back to the Sand and get Gaara somewhere where he'll be safe. Thank you for your help."

"It's not a problem," Shikamaru nodded. "See you."

When the Sand were gone, Ino said, "We're taking you back to Konoha whether you like it or not. You're under arrest."

"Oh?" Sakura said lightly. "Tell me, exactly what crimes have I committed against the village? I haven't taken anything or killed any of your ninja. I haven't told your secrets to anyone."

"You took _yourself,_" Kakashi answered. "When you signed the contract to become a ninja, you became the property of Konoha—ours to watch over, ours to protect and keep. In return, you go on a mission every so often unless you are given medical leave."

"I thought of that," Sakura countered. "Have you checked the records? I've been wiped from them. Having access to the Hokage's office and scrolls did have its perks. Unless I attack the village or wish to return to live in it, you legally have absolutely no cause to arrest me." Shikamaru grinned. Somebody intelligent to argue with. However, he could think of the perfect counterargument…

"We'll see about that when we get to the village," Shikamaru told her. "You could be lying about being wiped from the records and we have no way to check. If you have been wiped, meaning you were never a citizen of Konoha judging by the records, then we'll compensate you with 8650 yen for keeping you unjustly in captivity and let you go."

The ghost of a smile passed Sakura's lips. "That's true. Legally, I guess you've got me. However, Shikamaru…" Now the smile turned into a smirk. "You made a mistake in keeping up the connection with your shadow bind while we spoke. I've been draining your chakra all along through the connection—bet nobody has thought to do that, have they?—and it should die right…about…now." Sure enough, the shadow receded.

In a flash, Sakura was running.

"Hey, Sakura!" Kakashi called.

Sakura threw a look over her shoulder—and stopped dead.

Kakashi had Sasuke in a chokehold with a kunai at his neck.. Sasuke, who could barely move thanks to the senbon and was almost out of chakra, looked sullen.

"Don't bluff," Sakura scoffed. "You won't kill Sasuke."

"Won't I?" Kakashi's eyes were hard. "He murdered Lee. He almost killed Naruto. He tortured Neji and TenTen. Him, I have cause to kill."

"Sakura, go," Sasuke hissed. "Do not listen to him."

Kakashi's kunai cut just barely into Sasuke's throat. Sasuke coughed, a dark raspy sound. The blade dug slightly deeper, and blood started flowing from the wound. Sasuke winced, but he still stared at Sakura telling her to go.

"Go, Sakura, I don't need your—" Kakashi moved his kunai hand to cover his mouth.

"I have killed before, Sakura," Kakashi said quietly. "Can you say the same? If you go, his death will be your fault."

Sakura looked behind Kakashi to Ino, Kiba, and Shikamaru. Ino was biting her lip, obviously uncomfortable with the situation. Kiba was looking in awe at Kakashi. Shikamaru was looking at her, studying her reactions.

Sasuke moved his hand and choked out, "Go," before coughing up blood and wheezing. Kakashi was going to choke him to death.

Sakura trusted she was far enough so that nobody would see her tears as she turned her back on the scene and started walking.

"Sakura! Are you going to be responsible for the death of another person you could have saved?"

Whirling, Sakura threw a kunai with deadly precision. It struck Kakashi straight in the forehead, and the gray-haired man fell away. Didn't poof. It hadn't been a shadow clone. Sasuke fell to his knees, coughing, then tried to stand up and stumbled toward Sakura. Sakura sprinted back, allowing Sasuke to lean on her shoulder. She looked back. Ino was already healing Kakashi, having pulled the bloody kunai out.

"Don't try it," She told Shikamaru and Kiba who looked about ready to attack. "Leave this fight for another time. I have a feeling this isn't the last time we'll clash."

With that, supporting Sasuke they limped away in the general direction they figured the Akatsuki had gone.

* * *

They had to stop after about five minutes because Sasuke literally collapsed.

"What the hell…hit me…during that fight?" he coughed as Sakura healed the wounds on his throat. She looked at him pityingly. "Don't look at me…like that…just tell me."

"You were hit with a hundred senbon at the least."

"How come I didn't…see them coming?"

"You did." Sakura swallowed. "You…were preoccupied."

"Bullshit," Sasuke rasped. "I have studied the perfect ways to avoid senbon. There's no way…it could have…hit me by accident."

"It didn't. They were aimed at me."

And then Sasuke went into a wild coughing fit, blood splattering Sakura's front as she leaned over him trying to restrain him. "Sasuke! Sasuke, are you—speak to me!" But all she got from him was a desperate glare as he wheezed, unable to breathe. Sakura had no choice but to send what chakra she did have through Sasuke's body, looking for the problem. And she found it almost immediately. His heart…it had been punctured, and he was bleeding internally. And the heart was just about ready to stop. Then she realized: one senbon…it was still inside. It had moved, probably when he was being shaken around, and was now puncturing his lung and his heart.

It was fatal.

Sasuke couldn't breath, and all he could do was wheeze as his lungs deflated and his heart slowed. His eyes screamed betrayal, _Why didn't you heal me? Why are you letting me die?_ Then his eyes snapped shut as pain wracked his body.

"Sasuke, no, Sasuke…" Sakura felt utterly helpless. She feeble tried to move the senbon with her chakra, but she only succeeded in making the hole larger.

Her only choice was to cut him open.

* * *

The conditions were less than sanitary. Willing herself not to tremble, she unrolled a long sheet of plastic from her pack and laid it out, moving Sasuke to be on top of it, ignoring the jerks his body was making. She poured water onto her hands and onto Sasuke's torso where she would have to make the incision. She bit her lip. Probability of infection if she did this was 70 percent. Probability of death if she didn't… 100. Ripping open Sasuke's shirt, she took a breath and held it in order to make a steady incision with a chakra scalpel.

"Drain," she said to nobody in particular and coaxed the spare blood out by forming her chakra into a tubular shape and using suction. Once the blood was cleared, Sakura saw the senbon clearly. It was just as she'd thought—lodged in both the heart and lung, having flown right through the ribcage. "Forceps," she called to the nonexistent nurses around her and formed her chakra into the shape necessary to pluck out the object. She also willed some chakra to flow around the puncture areas so they would heal the moment she pulled it out. The heart chose that moment to stop beating, and Sakura felt like her own heart stopped as well. She counted to three and pulled out the senbon, blood flowing out even as the wounds healed. The lung had totally deflated. Sakura knew exactly one "lightning style" jutsu: the one all medics learned to restart hearts. She sent the smallest jolt of electricity to the heart. Nothing happened. She tried again, even as with the other hand she pulled special thread from her bag to sow up the incision. The internal damage was mostly healed—except for the fact that Sasuke was clinically dead.

"Come on, Sasuke," Sakura said desperately, her bloodied hands pumping Sasuke's chest after finishing the stitches. "Oh, come on, Sasuke, fuck, don't make me kiss you, please don't make me…" Sakura stopped, pinched Sasuke's nose and pressed her mouth over Sasuke's, breathing into it to send air into Sasuke to inflate his lung. Sakura alternated between the two maneuvers for a very long time.

And finally, finally, the heart started. Weakly, faintly, but working. Slowly, Sasuke's chest started moving up and down.

Sakura sat back and cried, cried out the burning tears that she hadn't let flow since he'd left. She'd done it. She'd saved someone…someone she cared for. She couldn't deny it any longer—watching Sasuke die had proved to her that she still loved him. Perhaps not in the same way, not puppy love, but she had a feeling that it was something deeper.

But, she told herself, that wouldn't deter her from her goal.

Sakura realized how tired she was and slumped. Ugh, no, she had to stay awake to monitor Sasuke…she had to…but her eyelids drooped and her last thought was input from Inner Sakura: _WE KISSED SASUKE! HELL YEAH!_

* * *

Sakura was woken up by Sasuke groaning. Judging by the position of the sun, it had been several hours. She looked over at the boy. His face was knotted up in pain, but his chest was still moving. Slowly, his eyes opened just barely, and he turned his head to see Sakura. Parched lips croaked, "Water."

As Sakura held up his neck and slowly poured the last of her water down Sasuke's throat, she could tell how weak he was. Once he had his fill, he flopped down, directing his gaze at the hot desert sky.

"How do you feel?" Sakura asked tentatively.

"Like crap," Sasuke answered. "What happened? Explain." He tried to sit up to lean against a rock but Sakura firmly pushed him back down.

"Sasuke. You just died twice in a matter of hours. Don't move."

"I…died?"

"One of the senbon—"

"—no. Start from when the senbon first hit me…what happened?"

Sakura swallowed. "The senbon were aimed impeccably. I was basically out of chakra from the fight, but I ran with you—got a kunai in the arm—and tried to heal you. The senbon were all hitting vital points. It should have been fatal. I…I had no choice, Sasuke. I went Second Form and forced the medical chakra out. It flushed the poison from your system while I plucked out the senbon. I thought I got all of them, and well, I was exhausted, not that that's any excuse. I tried to halfway reconstruct your nerves, but they must still be very weak. I sent the spare chakra which was tainted with poison into a rock which made it explode which is why I had the injuries."

"When Kakashi got me, I thought I felt something inside me shift," Sasuke offered weakly.

"Yeah. It was a senbon that I hadn't seen. It punctured your lungs and heart, I mean, the pain alone would have killed an ordinary person. I had some chakra that I stole from Shikamaru, so I opened you up—hence the scar on your chest—and removed it. It wasn't easy, though. I mean, you were already weak and…your heart stopped and your lungs deflated. There was blood everywhere. I used the one Raiton jutsu medics learn to jump-start your heart, and, err, inflated your lungs. And…yeah. Now you're alive."

There was a silence for a while as Sasuke was obviously in discomfort, his breaths not quite coming easily. Sakura was surprised when he got out, "You are… a skilled medical ninja."

Sakura choked silently, turning away so Sasuke wouldn't see. "You—you should be able to move with a bit of rest."

"…Sakura."

"Yes, Sasuke?"

"Why am I shirtless?"

Sakura laughed nervously. "Eheh. It got saturated with blood and it was in the way. As you can see, it was all I could do to soak up the mess with my skirt and you're lying on my shirt." She motioned to her torso, clad only in the thin, tight pants and camisole of her sound uniform. She realized that below the camisole it was quite easy to see the bandages that subdued her breasts and her figure was blaringly portrayed, but swallowed and tried to act like she wasn't self-conscious.

"We're…going to burn like this," Sasuke pointed out.

"Yes, I'm terrible sorry that your pale perfect skin will be marred," Sakura said sarcastically but realized he had a point. It was unhealthy to be in this desert like this, and the sun was setting. That meant it would be freezing cold in a few hours. They had to get out of that, but Sasuke couldn't really move…

"Sasuke, we have to get out of here. How are you feeling?"

Sasuke tried to raise his arm, and sort of succeeded until it flopped back down. "This is disgusting," he snapped, coming out of the daze he'd been in since he woke up. "I'm so weak. I can move!" He moved to get up, and Sakura watched with an eyebrow raised. Leaning on the rock, Sasuke managed to shakily stand, panting. "When the hell will this wear off?" He asked darkly.

"It can take up to six weeks after heart failure for you to be able to resume normal activities," Sakura admitted.

"Yeah, well, I don't have that kind of time," Sasuke snapped. "I'm a ninja. We could be attacked at any time. Isn't there any way to speed up the process?"

"No. Not that we can afford."

Sasuke growled and tried to take a step and tripped. Sakura reached out to steady him, but Sasuke was heavier than she'd thought and they both fell, him on top of her. Sasuke threw out his arms to stop his fall, but they buckled and he ended up splat on top of Sakura. Shirtless. With her in a camisole.

"Oh, this isn't awkward at _all_," Sakura's muffled voice said from somewhere below his chest.

X

Hinata burst into the intensive care ward. "Tsunade-sama," she gasped.

"Hinata?" The Hokage looked up sharply. "This is a sterile room, what are you—"

"I know something that will help him recover," Hinata said.

Tsunade became alert. "What are you suggesting?"

"Ino said that the curse seal could be contributing to keeping him restrained and causing him pain… I'm here to remove it."

"Are you authorized to do that?"

"No, but—"

"I can't have trouble with the Hyuuga, Hinata, I can't permit you to—"

Had Tsunade seen it coming, she probably could have blocked Hinata's punch to the head. But nobody would have expected the shy girl to take an initiative, and thus the Hokage was knocked out.

Shizune, who was standing by, was a bit more on guard, but didn't have time to draw a weapon as Hinata knocked her out.

Hinata took a second to realize exactly what she'd done. _I attacked the Hokage! Oh god, I'm in SO much trouble…_ Then she realized they could wake up at any time and she went to Neji's side and started drawing the signs on him. It would be best to have an onlooker to help hold him down, but she had to deal with what she had. She closed her eyes and tried to remember everything the scroll had said. She finished drawing the markings (with her blood, which would suffice since she was Main Branch) and placed her hand directly on top of the cursed mark. She murmured, "_Unseal,_" and opened her eyes, removing her hand. Had it worked?

She didn't have a chance to find out because an arm wrapped around her neck. A very strong one. "You just messed with the Hokage, Hyuuga. You're in big trouble."

"I'm not a Hyuuga," Hinata croaked.

"I don't care who you are, you are not allowed to interfere with my work! What did you do to him anyw—"

"Hokage-sama?"

Slowly, Tsunade released her and looked toward the bed. Neji was sitting up, mouth curved downwards. "Neji…?"

"Hokage-sama, why can't I see?"

* * *

**AN: Sakura is kind to Ino, stabs Kakashi, and brings Sasuke back from the dead in a matter of hours. Whee.**

**How will Neji react? Will Hinata get punished? ****Can Sakura make up her mind already? What would Sasuke be like on crack? Is inner-Sakura on crack? Is Kishimoto on crack? Is the author of this story on crack? Do ninja even _have _crack? Find the answer to most of these questions and more in the next chapter!  
**

**Reviews make me happy. Reviews make me update fast. So review plz :D**

**I promise more romantic drama to come. But you know me and my boring descriptions, I have to describe eeevery single thing.  
**

**P.S. No, I am not a doctor and if my description of Sakura's healing Sasuke was totally innaccurate... well, deal with it.**

**P.P.S. No, this chapter has not been proofread. I'll update it if I find something wrong with it. **

**P.P.P.S. Disclaimer: The author does not condone the use of crack cocaine, tobacco, playing chicken on the railroad tracks, or whatever else you feel like killing your body with. Unless it's chocolate. **


	14. Breather

**AN: And now for something completely different: FILLER. RUUUUUUN FOR YOUR LIVES. Warning: This chapter is absolute crap. Read it anyway. This is also the shortest chapter evar, so you won't suffer for long.  
**

"No," Sasuke declared.

"What the—what do you mean 'no'?" Sakura asked, exasperated, holding out the food and spoon.

"I have limits, Sakura. I am not going to take another spoonful of that vile concoction."

"Sasuke, this is vital to your getting better. It has painkillers, energizers, some cheap steroids, and soldier pills. I thought you were willing to do anything to regain your power."

"This is where I draw the line. That stuff is straight from _Hell._"

"Look, I know it's not appetizing, but you have to take it. See, I'll eat some myself!" Sakura lifted the spoon to her own lips, making sure not to inhale through her nose, and swallowed.

She proceeded to gag and crawled back so as to vomit under a tree and not onto Sasuke's lap.

"Okay, so it's not tasty, but—"

"Sakura, _no_."

Sakura stood up, cracking her knuckles threateningly. "Sasuke, you are going to consume this even if I have to force-feed it to you!"

"I'd like to see you try," Sasuke smirked.

With that, Sakura was pouncing on Sasuke, pinning him to the ground and straddling him with food in hand. She placed her knees on either side of his waist and squeezed, making sure he couldn't buck or move his arms enough to push her off. He glared, squirming pitifully, his mouth closed in a thin line. Sakura leered at him and pinched his nose shut so he couldn't breathe.

Ninja were trained to hold their breath, but only so much was humanly possible. The most anybody had gone was six minutes, but that had been hundreds of years ago and the record couldn't be trusted. As far as she remembered, Sasuke's limit had been 150 seconds, or two and a half minutes, at the academy. However, right now he was weakened and the limit was probably a whole lot less.

So she waited. Sasuke glowered as his eyes started to water and Sakura could tell he was really suffering trying to keep his mouth closed. Finally, he tried to discreetly, barely part his lips and suck in air but Sakura caught him, used one hand to hold his jaw still and the other to load the spoon with food and jam it into Sasuke's mouth.

He spat it out at her. It splattered her face and clothes.

"Oh, _hell _no," Sakura said, and repeated the process with another spoonful. This time, she then snapped his jaw shut when he opened it to make sure he wouldn't spit out the food and re-pinched his nose.

Sasuke's expression was one of utter loathing as he slowly chewed and swallowed with a grimace.

"Alright, are you going to take the next mouthful or do I have to repeat the process?" Sakura asked mildly.

"Screw you," Sasuke responded in the same tone.

"Maybe later. First, eat this," Sakura grinned and pushed the next spoonful down Sasuke's gullet, deliberately using Sasuke's old bloodstained shirt as a rag to wipe the food off her face.

* * *

"Hokage-sama," Neji repeated, "Why can't I see?" his eyes were furrowed in confusion. He raised one of his arms.

"That's not a good idea," Tsunade said softly. But she allowed Neji to raise his hand to his face, tracing the contours of it, slowly getting to his eyes. When he outlined the empty eye socket, his mouth opened in horror.

"My—my eyes," Neji stammered, doing so for the first time in his life. "I—I can't see. My eyes…they're gone. The pain is gone. The torture is… what… what happened to me?"

And so, with a heavy heart, Tsunade started explaining, sitting down by Neji's beside and recounting everything. She watched as his facial muscles moved, but without his eyes it was difficult to tell what he was feeling.

"Who…how did I heal?"

"That was my doing," Hinata said quietly, stepping out from the side of the room where she'd collapsed in a chair after the strenuous jutsu. "Neji…Brother… you no longer have the Caged Bird Seal. I took the liberty of removing it."

Neji said nothing for a long time, then laughed bitterly. "Why? I almost killed you, many times. The only leverage you had over me was your status. Why would you take that away? You owed me nothing… and where is your stutter?"

"I renounced the Hyuuga," Hinata told him as Tsunade stepped out of the room along with a flustered Shizune. "My father wouldn't remove your seal on account of it would be too controversial with the elders. So I went to go and live with…a friend. Then I snuck into the Hyuuga compound and read the seal removal scroll. And, well, you know the rest. I would hazard a guess that the seal prolonged the genjutsu you were— "

Just then, the door burst open and TenTen rushed in. She took one look at Neji sitting up and threw her arms around him. Neji was confused for a moment, before he caught the scent of her hair. "TenTen…is that you?"

"Yeah, Neji. It's me." And Neji definitely felt the tears spilling down TenTen's face and onto his, their saltiness bringing his lips alive with sensation after they'd felt nothing for so long. Then she let go, and Neji heard the ruffle of fabric as she hugged Hinata almost equally as hard. "You saved him, Hinata. I…I don't know how to thank you."

The smile was visible in Hinata's words. "Konoha couldn't do without him." The _clap _of sandals as she turned to go out of the room. "Now I'd better get back to Naruto. He'll be wondering where I went…"

Neji registered this for a moment as the door slammed shut. Then: "Wait… _Naruto_?"

TenTen giggled giddily and silenced his roar by pressing her lips to his.

Neji forgot what he was mad about. He forgot most of everything, actually.

* * *

Kakashi woke up to a throbbing pain in his skull. He remembered vaguely a kunai flying toward his face.

_Sakura…what have you done?_

_You always had the highest respect for me, your sensei. Now you've attacked me and you have to be an enemy of Konoha…it's betrayal. Now we have to hunt you._

"Kakashi-sensei!" said a worried voice. Kakashi frowned. It couldn't be…

"Sakura?"

A moment of silence. "No, it's me, Ino. How are you feeling?"

Kakashi groaned, opened his eyes, and tried to sit up. "A bit dizzy," he answered as he flopped back down. "What happened to me?"

"The kunai hit you. It could have done serious damage, but I managed to fix it up in time…you should take it easy though."

"And Sasuke and Sakura?"

"Sasuke was seriously injured…they sort of limped away. It sounded like they collapsed, but…we needed to get you back to the Sand to regrow the flesh the kunai took out. And it turned out right afterwards that one of the puppets got a claw into Kiba—he's still recovering from the poison, which a woman was able to find an antidote for. Somebody called Chiyo, I think."

"The s—wait, what?"

Kakashi bolted up and realized that he was, in fact, in a hospital room. Not Konoha; the walls were cement and sand and out the window was indeed Suna. "H—How long has it been?"

"Two days. You were out for an unnaturally long time. I was starting to get worried!"

"…and Shikamaru?"

Ino hesitated before answering, "He and Temari went out for a cup of tea at some café or other."

"…and Gaara?"

"I'm here," said a voice form the bed next to him. Ino jumped.

"Gaara-sama! You're talking? The painkillers must not be—"

"I don't need the painkillers," said the redhead, sitting up. "I feel good as new. In fact… I slept. And obviously did not blow up the whole village, so that is an improvement."

Just then, Temari and Shikamaru entered the room, laughing and Temari's hand on Shikamaru's shoulder. "And then, I told her, 'Uh, you do realize that there's a freakin' huge leech on your shoulder?' and she _freaked_—" Temari stopped talking when she realized they had entered the hospital room.

"Ah," Shikamaru said a bit too innocently, hands in his pockets. "Kakashi, you're awake."

"Gaara!" Temari cried, letting go of Shikamaru's shoulder and running to Gaara's side.

Ino pushed past Shikamaru and ran out of the room, before anybody could see her wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

"What the—Ino?" The door slammed shut. "Troublesome woman."

* * *

Kankuro mindlessly opened the door to the hospital bathroom only to find Ino sobbing on the ground. "Hey—what—" _Aww shit, I dunno how to deal with crying girls…_He decided he could hold it, and avoided the situation altogether by closing the door and walking down the hall whistling.

* * *

**AN: Filler is filler is crappy, but I needed to wrap up the loose ends before I can get to the good stuff.** **Anyway, definite SasuSaku moment there, they just don't know it ;) Also, **_**somebody**_** is jealous.****Also, at least Neji and TenTen have an uncomplicated relationship: Neji gets angry, TenTen kisses him, everyone's happy.**

**Reviews would be nice. **


	15. A Second Meeting

"Well, it looks like you can walk and use chakra now!" Sakura said cheerfully as she finally let go of Sasuke and allowed him to take several steps on his own. "Don't get into any fights if you can avoid it, and ask Kabuto for a checkup when you get back to base."

Sasuke stopped dead. "When _I _get back to the base?"

Sakura stopped as well. She laughed nervously. "Oops. Guess I let that slip out sooner than I intended."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked with narrowed eyes.

"I…Sasuke, you're too weak to continue the mission. It'll take several more days. So I think it would be better if I followed the Akatsuki on my own. To get the ring, I mean."

"Sakura, you're a horrible liar," Sasuke said, leaning against a tree and crossing his arms. "You don't plan on coming back."

"Wh—wha? No, I don't think I'll die," Sakura blurted, trying to cover. One glance at Sasuke told her he wasn't buying it. She sighed. "Yeah, alright. Fine. I'm not going back to the Snake-bastard."

"Why?"

Sakura didn't feel like explaining.

She really didn't.

So in a flash, she was in front of Sasuke, slapping a hand to his forehead and using a genjutsu to knock him out. He never saw it coming.

* * *

Hazily, Sasuke came to. No sign of Sakura. But then they close to the desert—if he walked out from behind this rock, maybe he could see far away. He assumed she would be heading in the general direction the Akatsuki members were. He picked himself up, gratified at how easily he was moving, and padded over onto the sand. There, on the horizon, it looked like there was something in the sky. And there appeared to be two silhouettes on the ground.

He started stumbling towards them.

He wouldn't be so stupid as to trust Sakura again. He thought he was safe with her, and she had knocked him out.

He was _such_ an idiot.

* * *

"So, Neji, do you remember who did this to you?" Tsunade asked as she fastened the bandage around the blind man's eyes.

"Of course. It was that female sound ninja—was she called Tayuya? And the one who harassed Sakura in the chuunin exams, Kin. They created some sort of mutual genjutsu that played on my curse seal." Neji shuddered. "It was…painful, to say the least. I only wish I'd had more self-control than…to do _this _to my eyes."

"So now the Sound is attacking us?" Tsunade mused. "That's a good excuse to go raid them and bring back Uchiha and Sakura."

"But they're powerful," Nej said. "And we cannot know how big it is."

"You're right," Tsunade sighed. She grabbed a clipboard and signed off on it. "Alright. You're in condition enough to go."

"But…Tsunade-sama, how am I to get around if I cannot see?"

"This has happened to plenty," Tsunade said reassuringly. "Though none with the Byakugan. Anyway, your chakra and other senses will start to compensate for your lost sight. In the meantime, I suggest you stay close to somebody who will help you get around and refrain from getting into any fights."

"Very well," Neji said. He pushed himself up and slowly placed his feet on the floor, just as he heard the door open.

"Neji! He's healed?" TenTen asked Tsunade happily.

"Yep. Oh, TenTen—you're the perfect person for the job. Take care of Neji while he adjusts to being blind," Tsunade instructed. "At least give it a week. This is a mission."

Right when Neji was about to step out, Hyuuga Hiashi stepped in. He took one look at Neji's forehead and shot a glare at Tsunade.

"Hokage-_sama_, who removed the seal from my nephew's forehead without my permission?"

"The same person who apparently snuck into the Hyuuga manor and assaulted the Hokage," Tsunade said lazily, leaning back onto a counter. "Rest assured, Hyuuga Hinata is doing some time in prison."

* * *

The trip back from the Sand was not a fun one.

Ino snapped at everybody, even moodier than she usually was, and nobody knew why. She refused to speak a word to Shikamaru. That was okay, because Shikamaru wasn't speaking anyway. Kiba was pissed that he had nobody to talk to, so he was talking aloud and annoying the hell out of everybody. Kakashi was mulling over the events of the past few days, trying to ignore the scorching heat of the Sand.

Finally, when they sat down to rest Kakashi said, "Come on, Shikamaru, Ino, display some signs of life here. Kiba, display _fewer_ signs of life."

"I don't feel like talking," Ino said miserably. Which was a first. Ino _always_ felt like talking.

Shikamaru mumbled something along the lines of "this heat is troublesome."

Kiba continued whining about how Akamaru was hot, he was hot, sand was in his sandals, the sun was too bright, he couldn't believe they barely got to do any fighting at all, Sasuke was a bastard, Sakura was a bitch, he was the best, Gaara was a freak, they hadn't received any compensation for saving the kazekage, and he was hot and he hated the desert.

Ino took out a scroll from her pack and started reading. "What's that?" Kakashi asked friendlily.

Without looking up, Ino answered, "It's from an elder called Chiyo. I spoke to her about medical things, like creating antidotes and drawing out poison since it appears some of the Akatsuki use poison in their puppets. She's quite wise, and I'm studying this. Maybe I can use it to be of some use…though Tsunade-sama is amazing at brewing antidote anyway…" Ino sighed and wallowed in self-pity.

Kakashi rubbed his temples. It was going to be a long, long trip back.

"Akatsuki!" Sakura called. She'd caught up to the to members who were heading back in the direction of the Sand. They stopped, and Sakura could just imagine the blond one raising an eyebrow.

Slowly they descended.

"Looks like they took care of your puppets, Master Sasori," the blond one said from on his bird…so the weird one with the hunched over puppet was called Sasori. Sakura had heard of Sasori of the Red Sand, but he should be extremely old! How was he still moving about so well? Maybe he wasn't, and that was why he hid inside the puppet. "Not as good as you thought?"

"What do you want?" 'Sasori' grumbled.

"I'm going to kill you," Sakura answered nonchalantly. "Or at least one of you, and force the other one to lead me to Akatsuki's base." Sakura realized she probably should have just tailed them at this point, but they would have found out eventually.

"You have pink hair, un," the blonde one pointed out.

"Hey, you up there!" Sakura goaded. "You look my former friend. Same blonde hair. Are you a girl or a boy?"

"Damnit, I'm a guy! I'm Deidara of the Rock village, remember me and my art!" 'Deidara' yelled.

"Your art?" Sasori snorted. He turned back to Sakura. "Either way, we're heading toward the Sand to retrieve our prize. You're rather stupid, aren't you? You can't hope to overcome both of us, especially since you're a brat of Orochimaru's. What do you want with Akatsuki anyway?"

"That's not your concern!" Sakura huffed. "Anyway, don't underestimate me. I cracked the shell of your old puppet; I see you have a new one?"

"Hey!" Deidara snapped suddenly. "I remember now! In one of the villages. Tanzaku Gai I think, people were gossiping that Konoha's star medical pupil had left. She had pink hair. You're Haruno Sakura?"

"She's a medic?" Sasori snorted. "Fat lot of trouble she's going to give us."

Sakura felt a flash of fear and pushed it away. Okay, she'd screwed up. The only thing left was to follow through on her threat… great. Nice job on leaving Sasuke unconscious in the woods, Sakura. Great job. Just phenomenal. She was such an idiot.

"I don't want to keep the leader waiting. Let's do this quickly," Sasori suggested.

With that, senbon were flying toward her, but Sakura leaped aside just in time and tripped. She glared at the senbon. They were officially her least-favorite weapon. A white bird landed next to her. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. Sakura rolled aside just in time to avoid being blown up as the deceptive clay bird exploded. She assumed that was what Deidara specialized in: bombs.

Sakura remembered that with Sasori, the trick was to get in close and attack with close combat. That was, after all, the weakness of the Puppet Masters. However, Deidara could see her attack coming and stop her in her tracks. She really wished she'd learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu. All she needed was a way to distract both of them at once.

Hm. She still knew the normal clone jutsu, but it wouldn't fool them for long… it was just an apparition after all. So she'd have to choose one to use the clone on and one to attack herself.

She knew Sasori's moves better, so may as well finish him off first.

She made the handseals to create a bunshin. They charged, the bunshin leaping up to latch onto the now low-flying clay bird and the real Sakura running for Sasori.

She dodged the first kunai. Evaded the second. Ducked the round of senbon. Unfortunately, the fourth kunai which followed the third hit Sakura smack in the shoulder. _Shit, _she cursed as she sank to the ground. This poison was way more potent and spreading way faster. It could kill her much faster than the three days it took the previous poison she encountered. Maybe the kunai just had more on it—Sakura's thought halted as she pulled out the kunai, arm jerking, before she toppled over face-down in the sand.

"Well, that was easy," Deidara commented.

"May as well finish her off to make sure she doesn't bother us again," Sasori's rough voice said. The words started to slur together. What did they all mean? She had sand in her eyes… she couldn't close her eyes. Her eyelids weren't working. Eyes were drying out, just like her parched throat. Sakura heard a _clack clack clack, _a sound similar to the last puppet's tail winding up. Well, that was it. She was about to get stabbed. _Joy._

Wind whizzed by as the tail came towards her—and then abruptly stopped. There was a sizzling sound, then it sounded like part of the tail hit the ground. What…?

"Not if I have anything to say about it," said Sasuke.

* * *

Sasuke noticed Sakura wasn't moving, but there were no visible wounds. He'd seen her get hit by the one kunai and collapse. So it must have been spiked with a potent poison. "What did you do to her?" he asked Sasori just to confirm as he let his chidori crackle to a stop.

"I modified my poison—it's the same basic thing, but it's much more potent. She's already immobilized, but conscious, and she's in great amounts of pain. She'll die within ten minutes." Sasuke kept an eye on the enemy as he rolled Sakura over and almost recoiled. "You destroyed my tail. You'll pay for that." Her eyes were open and glassy, and there was _sand _in her eyes. Ouch, that must be uncomfortable, but he could hardly pick it out. He hurriedly poured what water he had left into her eyes and it sort of cleared them out. He closed the lids, knowing it would lessen the irritation though she would be pissed at not seeing anything. "Sorry, Sakura," he murmured, and stood back up. He wasn't quite sure what to say, but the blonde one—Deidara, according to his research on Akatsuki—started for him.

"So this is Itachi's brat of a brother, hmm?"

"What is it to you?" Sasuke snarled.

"I hate your brother with a burning passion."

"Great. We have something in common. Lead me to your base so I can kill him." Sasuke activated his sharingan for effect. He wasn't much for conversation, really.

"I hate the sharingan!" Deidara all but shrieked, and let fly several clay bombs. However, Sasuke knew his power because he'd done some research on the Akatsuki and leaped aside.

"Sakura doesn't have much time," Deidara crowed in a sing-song voice. "She'll die in ten minutes!"

Desperately, Sasuke ran over the options. There was no way to get her to the Sand in time, and even then there was no guarantee they'd help her. He didn't know how to get the poison out of her system himself. He only had one chance. He dodged another kunai, rolled over to Sakura's kunai pack, and searched through it. Perhaps Sakura still had the antidote for the last poison, which would be of similar composition… and…yes! Sasuke couldn't believe his luck. There was a syringe there. Actually, there were two. And they had different-colored liquids in them.

Shit.

One of them was the cure, one of them was an unknown thing that could kill her. Which was which?

Preoccupied, he didn't forsee the bomb flying towards him. It was too late when he did—it landed on his leg, exploded. Sasuke yelled out in agony and collapsed, incoherent. There was a huge…freaking…hole in his leg! And the worst part—it didn't hurt as much as it should have. The nerves must have died again. Great. He rolled away from the next bomb with an effort, but dropped one of the syringes and couldn't retrieve it in time. He crawled towards Sakura and stabbed down into her heart with the syringe left.

Sakura jerked, convulsed. Her hand shot out, her mouthed opened and she croaked, "The other one too" and stopped moving.

Sasuke tried to keep his panic at bay. He wasn't made for this. He wasn't a medic. What did she mean? The other one? Was she dead?

Another bomb hit him. The same leg. Lower, on his calf. He snarled in pain. "This is all the last Uchiha has to offer?" Deidara crowed. "Oh, wait, he's not the last! He has a brother who is much, much stronger than him. And they're both pussies, of course."

Sasuke activated his sharingan and glared at the blonde. Then, he realized it wasn't working. Deidara grinned. "Hah! Your pathetic doujutsu not working on me? Shouldn't you at least be smart enough to realize that I would build up a resistance to my most hated weapon?"

Sasuke had let his guard down in surprise, and a rope from a puppet of Sasori's wrapped around him and squeezed hard. He gritted his teeth and chidori-nagashi'd the bonds. The metal fell away harmlessly, almost crushing the remaining syringe.

_The other one!_

Sasuke swiped up the needle, wiped it off briefly with his sleeve, and stabbed it into Sakura's heart as well.

Sakura's eyes flew open and she breathed hard for a moment. Then she smirked and stood up.

Sasori's puppet's face was emotionless, but there was puzzlement in his voice. "You still had the antidote? But it shouldn't have worked on a more powerful dose…"

"I knew you would probably make it work quicker—the waiting time was a weakness—so you would make it more potent. I didn't have the materials for another antidote, so I put together a booster to make my own antidote work faster and stronger."

"That doesn't explain why you're conscious—it takes time to heal."

"Adrenaline. Pure adrenaline. Added in with the booster. I'll probably collapse after this." Sakura's smirk widened into a grin. "Guess I'm not as stupid as you thought, huh?" She turned and gave Sasuke a once-over, smile dropping as she noted the wounds on his leg and the paleness of his face. "Oh, great. They killed your nerves again. Right when you were able to walk again!"

So, the status: Sakura, high on adrenaline and ready to fight. Sasuke, weak with one seriously injured leg but with plenty of chakra. Sasori, still inside his puppet without his arsenal of 100. And Deidara, still well-stocked on clay in the air on his bird.

The battle had not even yet begun.

* * *

Hinata sat in the cold, dark cell in white pants and shirt. They smelled of starch and were much too large for her everywhere, except much too tight around the chest. The cell itself smelled of unspeakable things. There was a cup of water in the corner and prisoners were allowed out for three meals a day in the cafeteria, depending on how serious their crimes were. Some weren't even allowed out of their cells. All the prisoners had chakra seals painted onto the backs of their necks. Hinata had been lucky enough not to get a roommate.

She really didn't mind being here. After all, she'd known there would be consequences for her behavior, and she had lost her temper and assaulted the Hokage. She was getting what was coming to her. But she did not feel guilty for doing any of it: Neji would be able to live a happier life and she herself was free from the Hyuuga. If it wasn't official already, surely they would have disowned her by now. A Hyuuga being in prison was unheard of.

She dealt with the boredom by mulling over her life when she heard familiar outraged yells. "She doesn't deserve to be in prison! There's obviously a misunderstanding; there is absolutely no way Hinata could commit crimes against the village! Let me speak to her, damnit!"

A silence as the guard presumably retorted.

"I don't care if she isn't allowed to have visitors! I'm staying here and nagging you until you let me see her!"

An obnoxiously loud sigh from the guard, then footsteps. Hinata stood up, brushed the dirt off her clothes and walked to the bars that allowed her to see the hall. Naruto was there in a heartbeat, grabbing at the bars. "Hinata-chan! I'll get you out of here, I promise, I'll kick their asses for doing this to you—"

"No, it's okay, Naruto," Hinata said shyly though she was touched. "Everybody will be happier this way. I'll spend a bit of time here, and then the Hyuuga will have closure and the Hokage will be a bit suspicious of me but I'll be allowed out again. I mean, Tsaunde-sama understood my actions but she couldn't just let them go, of course."

"But why? Why are you here? There has to be some mistake!"

"I snuck into the Hyuuga household, pretended to be my father and read through the scroll that allows the removal of the caged bird seal. I went to the hospital, knocked Tsunade-sama out since I knew she couldn't legally assist me, and performed the jutsu on Neji-san. He is now free from the seal… "

Naruto looked at her in awe and Hinata felt insanely proud. Naruto was _noticing _her. "Hinata-chan, you…you did that?" Hinata nodded. Naruto stuck his broad arms through the bars and wrapped Hinata in an awkward hug. "You're amazing! The Hyuuga got what was coming to them! Everything will be better from now on!" His grin was so broad Hinata thought she might go back to fainting. It was a smile-and it was directed at her. It was all she had ever wanted- and somehow she knew there could be even more in the future. Because it was more than a smile. It was a promise.

* * *

**AN: So I'm late to update and crap at making excuses. I'm also still badass. Therefore I conclude that I am Kakashi.**

**Moving on… I have no idea how ninja prison would work so I sort of made it up, lol 8D**

**I've never much liked NaruHina so writing them is...interesting. It's a new experience I guess.  
**

**So, what do Tayuya and Kin want? Can Sasuke and Sakura beat Deidara and Sasori? Will Kiba EVER stop whining? Find out the answers to this and more…well…probably less…in the next chapter!**

**Thanks to all of you who fav and story alert. To those of you who review—I. Love. You. Fullstop. You're the best :)**

**I promise more exciting things are coming, but I have to transition to the cool parts you know? Heh.**

**Don't forget to check my profile for updates on the fics if I'm taking a long time. There may be spoilers as well for future chapters.  
**


	16. Goodbye

**AN: In this chapter, we find out what happened the night Sakura left! Enjoy! Unfortunately, it also features Attack of the O.C.s. Don't worry, they're minor roles. Also, this chappy is HUGE and maybe boring, so...sit back, sip some blood-I mean water- and enjoy. Or run screaming for your life; you can do that too.**

* * *

"The best way to handle this is to split up," Sakura told Sasuke. "Your lightning-style is good against Deidara's Earth. My strength and knowledge of poison can take out Sasori."

"But if Sasori catches you with another poison weapon, you're finished," Sasuke countered. They paused the debate as they dodged another round of kunai.

"He won't catch me," Sakura said, sounding more confident than she was. "Besides… if he catches me at all, I'm finished regardless of whether you're here or not. That was my last antidote. Any other issues?"

"I can't walk," Sasuke pointed out, wincing as he attempted to lift his injured leg.

Sakura knew the Akatsuki wouldn't let her get only closer to Sasuke—whenever she moved to heal him, they tried to blow him up—so she used a technique she'd seen Kabuto use on a patient who wouldn't let anyone near him. Remote healing. It drained a lot more chakra, but it was worth it—she didn't necessarily need physical contact to heal minor to slightly serious injuries. Contact was always an asset but in this case not an option.

"That's about all the chakra I can spare," Sakura said.

Sasuke nodded—and he immediately activated the curse seal. Sakura looked at him sharply as he sprouted wings and his skin grayed.

With the wings, he flew up to Deidara's clay bird. They grappled, and the bird flew out of control, taking them a kilometer away after a while, and continued getting farther.

Sakura readied herself. She'd memorized the patterns of attack Sasori's puppets used while fighting all of those some time ago. So as she charged, she knew the right moments to leap aside from a kunai. Compared to the hundreds of puppets, where she had to look every direction at once, this was almost a piece of cake. The only issue was that huge tail. She remembered Kabuto being speared through the chest with that. She'd barely been able to save him. She would not survive anything of those proportions.

She dodged the kunai, and grabbed the tail that attempted to spear her. She grabbed it, summoning up her inhuman strength, and used it to swing the puppet around a little then smash it into the ground. There was a crack. She followed it up with a punch and kick, and the shell shattered. She blindly grabbed the cloaked form and searched for a throat as the dust cleared. There was a metallic sound, however, and Sakura sensed a kunai had been pulled. She leaped back, not wanting to risk getting hit by that.

When the debris cleared, the shell was lying in shards around cloaked figure. It was pretty short, but of course standing up unlike the hunched puppet it had inhabited.

"Not bad, girl," the person said in a voice totally different from that of the gruff, hoarse puppet's voice. "You analyzed the attacks of my hundred puppets, knowing I had programmed them to attack as I would. Thus, I will have to change my entire method of attack. I wonder where you picked up brains. Certainly not with Orochimaru."

The voice was silky. The voice was sexy. The voice was…_young._

"You don't sound as old as you should be, according to my research," Sakura mused aloud.

"That's right." The voice was smiling. Sasori turned around, and let down his hood. Sakura gasped. Smooth, ruffled red hair. Long eyelashes, narrow eyes, thin nose. Mouth a smirk.

"You're not Sasori of the Red Sand," she declared.

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because you haven't aged a day since the nukenin picture in the Bingo Books."

* * *

Sasori smirked again. Sakura admitted it: it was a sexy smirk. She shook her head and tried to appear fierce. "How the hell did you do it? Not even Orochimaru was able to perfect an immortality jutsu!"

"That's for me to know and you to guess at," the about fifteen-year old man replied. But he wasn't twenty. He was at least thirty-five. It was insane… he left the Sand twenty years ago!

"You have knowledge of the human body," Sakura said. "Kabuto told me everything. You brainwashed him. That's a pretty experienced jutsu. Unfortunately, it turns out Kabuto was Orochimaru's man all along. You also were aiming for Kabuto's heart, but hit his sternum because he moved. You can fashion excellent poisons—I know this because it almost killed me and Sasuke. You can make puppets that can wield any weapon whatsoever… like senbon. You have a puppet that can aim senbon impeccably." It dawned on her. "I've been reading Orochimaru's scrolls… human puppets. You turned real, living humans into puppets. That's why they have such a wide range of skills. But none of them used jutsu…"

"No," Sasori agreed. "Those didn't."

Sakura narrowed her eyes and threw an experimental kunai. And opened her mouth to ask more. Then she heard a horrible _clackclackclack _from behind her.

Her eyes widened as she spun on her heels. The head—the head of the puppet she'd smashed—it was alive, hovering, and opening its mouth. _Shit! _Was the only thought Sakura could get out before those stupid poison spikes started flying at her. She tried to deflect them with kunai, but there were just too many, coming much too quickly.

It was point-black range.

Then she felt control wrested away from her, and she couldn't be more thankful as somehow her body dodged every single one, kunai coming up at just the right seconds to deflect a runaway. The spikes just kept on coming, but not a single one hit her. After they stopped, Sasori called, "Spry, aren't you?"

Trying to cover up her astonishment, Sakura smirked. "I've got more up my sleeve than you know. Although your little decapitated-attack was a little disorienting, I must admit."

Sasori mirrored the smirk. "In that case, girl, let's see you face… _this _puppet."

With a poof, there was a puppet hovering in the air, curled around Sasori. It had graying hair and amber, almost red eyes. "What is that?" Sakura asked suspiciously, taking a step back.

"You don't recognize him? I'm so disappointed," the puppet master mused. "To make a long story brief: this is your death."

* * *

Naruto wasn't quite sure why he was in the Hokage's office with Kakashi, Gai, TenTen, and Neji, and why Granny Tsunade was looking so apprehensive, but he figured something was about to change and he wasn't going to like it.

"Don't worry, it's not a mission," Tsunade said immediately. TenTen let out a breath she had been holding. Neji wasn't quite ready to fight on a mission yet—he was still bumping into objects that were less than three feet wide that didn't have chakra signatures. Naruto scowled.

Tsunade took a drink of sake. Nobody commented.

"Alright," she said. "This is about teams. Both of your teams have suffered…losses. So you are both short at least one man. Well, it's not traditional for teams of two and three to go on missions—ninja always travel in groups of four. So I was thinking maybe we could attempt to rebuild the teams.

"I've thought out a few possibilities. One: Naruto joins Team Gai to be the fourth person. His powerful ninjutsu and vast amounts of chakra coupled with TenTen's skill with weaponry and Neji's taijutsu will be a powerful combination. In this case, Kakashi would either take on a new team or go back to the ANBU." Tsunade took another drag of sake, then spoke again, allowing no argument.

"Two: Danzo of Root has offered to give us three people. Two could go with Kakashi and Naruto. One would stick with Team Gai. This way, we would once again have two teams."

"Three…we forget the teams. Neji, who is a jounin, can take on a team of his own if he wishes or join ANBU. TenTen as chuunin is qualified to teach at the academy. Naruto could take tests to finally make chuunin—since he is the only one in his year who is still a genin. If he makes chuunin, he can be an assistant to me or teach in the academy or be a village guard. Kakashi and Gai could join the ANBU or take on new teams. In other words, everybody would go their own way."

Tsunade took another draught and leaned back, signifying she was done speaking. "So. Thoughts? I need a decision today."

There was an uncomfortable silence as everyone eyed everyone else—or in Neji's case, as he appeared stoic because he couldn't exactly make eye contact through the bandages.

"I don't mind working with Neji and TenTen and Bushy-brow sensei," Naruto started, unaware of his disrespect to Gai, "but Kakashi-sensei's been teaching me a lot of things. And we fight well together. So it'd be better if I were on a team with him."

Another silence as everybody considered that Naruto had just had a rational thought.

"Surprisingly, Naruto has reason," Neji said. "Naruto has undergone an entirely different training from ours, and his own training will make it difficult for him to adapt to our team. A Root Member, if I may go by rumors I've heard, is almost a clean slate. They will adapt much more easily to our style."

"And the senseis?" Tsunade asked. "What do you think?"

"Neji makes an excellent point!" Gai agreed enthusiastically. "While Naruto's youthfulness would be an excellent addition, his lotus will take some time to blossom, and—"

"—and I don't really find the idea of going back to ANBU…agreeable," Kakashi said.

"Alright," Tsunade said, heaving a sigh much heavier than it should have been. "I've already chosen the Root members. They're about your age, but they've been trained differently. You'll find them…interesting, but hopefully to your liking. Come in!"

The door opened, and sure enough there were three people in the doorway. One was a pale boy with black hair and similar eyes, a sword hanging on his back. He had his eyes squinted up and tips of his lip raised in a sort of demented smile. Next to him was a girl with long, silver hair that reached past her shoulder blades. Her eyes were icy teal. Strapped across her back were a total of four swords, their hilts all different. Takeshi had a hood over his head, but a tuft of red hair stuck out. His eyes were the same shade of red. He didn't have any visible weapons. All in all, none of them looked particularly inviting.

"Meet Sai, Kohaku, and Takeshi," Tsunade said. "Sai and Kohaku will be with Team Kakashi. Takeshi, you are with Team Gai. That's all I have to say. Go get acquainted in the method of your choice." She took a final drag of sake until Shizune stepped into the room with some papers and yanked the bottle out of her master's hands.

* * *

There were footsteps behind Sakura again. She whirled, pulling a shuriken. From behind a rock stepped—an old lady?

However, Sasori seemed to recognize her. In fact, he chuckled. "So that's how the girl avoided the attack. Granny Chiyo. Who would've thought we'd meet here of all places?"

"I heard you attacked the kazekage, Sasori. Judging by that puppet, he's not the only one." Her eyes narrowed. "I snuck away to face you. I'm the only one who ever had a chance of killing you." She turned to Sakura. "You're the traitor, aren't you? Still, you healed Gaara. So it would seem to me you have no ill will towards the Sand or Leaf. So go away and let me handle this fight."

"Heh." Sakura laughed. "This guy is my opponent. I don't give up so easily. Besides, I need him to lead me to Akatsuki's lair anyway."

"You won't be able to beat him without help," Chiyo warned.

Sakura considered. "You must be Elder Chiyo of the Sand, right?

"That's me," Chiyo confirmed.

Sakura smacked her fist into her palm. "Right then. It's an alliance, Elder Chiyo. I am Haruno Sakura—I have been trained by the legendary copy-ninja and two sannin: the most powerful medical kunoichi in the world, Tsunade, and the almost immortal Orochimaru. Give me advice on how to beat this guy."

* * *

Deidara was really going all-out—from planting mines in the ground so Sasuke had to fly to avoid them to resisting the sharingan to turning into a huge freaking clay giant. Sasuke was just about out of chakra, and finally his sharingan and curse seal faded away. He had just finished running from the tiny, tiny molecular-size bombs that were spread by the explosion of a nearby cactus. It had taken almost everything he had to force his way through Deidara's resistance to genjutsu and be able to escape that attack. Now his limbs were refusing to work: Sasuke hid under an overhang and collapsed. He attempted to cover himself in sand and conceal his chakra, but it was useless. The Akatsuki member found him and stood over him in victory, his hand noticeably chewing on some clay to make a final attack.

"AND NOW, I'll—" Deidara stopped suddenly as though listening to something. "What? Oh, come on! I was just about to kill…yeah, yeah, I get the point. Four-tails is more important than my happiness. Hmph. Are you sure I can't—okay, okay! No, I don't know where Sasori is!"

Sasuke looked up barely, only to see Deidara walking away.

"I'm not done with you!" Sasuke snarled. "Where is Itachi?"

Deidara looked down at him disdainfully. "You're not even worth killing. I'm off." He turned—

Only to get punched right in the face by Sakura, who had a lifeless puppet slung over one shoulder and an old hag on the other.

Deidara fell to the ground, out cold.

"I killed Sasori," Sakura said casually.

"How did you manage that?" Sasuke asked warily.

"Oh, it definitely wasn't easy. But he was already technically dead. It's…a long story. Either way, this body here is my ticket to, ah, infiltrate Akatsuki. So I can take the ring for myself."

"And the woman?"

Sakura looked away. Bit her lip. "I died. She brought me back. She died."

"She exchanged your life for her own? That might be a technique to learn," Sasuke mused as he tried to push himself up off the ground.

"No, it's not," Sakura snapped even as she lay the woman down. "It was stupid. I didn't even know her. All I did was impress her with my fighting, explain myself a little bit—and the old hag decides to lay her life down for me! I can't believe it. I—I don't want to learn that jutsu. I would never, ever use it for anyone."

"You're going to explain now," Sasuke said, stumbling to his feet and crossing his arms. "Why do you feel a need to leave Orochimaru? He's going to be pissed at me."

Sakura was panting, and tired.

That gave him an idea.

Sasuke's mind was suddenly pressing into hers, sharingan whirling fully. Sakura knew that the moment she resisted her brain would be turned to mush—it was all she could do to flee back, and Sasuke pushed into her mind.

"I'm not that easy to defeat," Sasuke said, breathing hard but standing there on the water that made up her mind. "You knocked me out a while ago, Sakura. Why? Actually, I'll just steal it from your mind so you can't lie to me."

Sasuke was unfamiliar with exploring a mind, as this was the first time he'd been provided with the opportunity to do so, but he assumed that he had to sink into the layers of mud. He stopped concentrating chakra in his feet and started going down—and yep, there were the memories. Sakura was resisting, but Sasuke effortlessly threw up a wall to entrap her. This sharingan really was something…

He burned with rage when he saw Orochimaru's caresses_; the snake was standing behind Sakura, licking her ear, and she only stood stiffly… then he moved down to her neck and bit harshly into the curse seal. She screamed in pain. _The current Sakura beat at the wall he'd used to block her in, furiously. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT! GET AWAY!"

The next memory was her panting on the ground as Orochimaru stood above her. _"Why are you here, Haruno?" This was that first day she'd arrived, surely—she was wearing a red outfit rather than Sound attire. Orochimaru kicked her again, and Sasuke noticed the setting was the snake's office._

"_I want power. I already told you," Sakura snarled, keeping on a brave face even as Orochimaru kicked her again, bruising her side._

"_Why? You're a weakling and will never be anything but a weakling! You can't save Sasuke-kun!" Orochimaru goaded her._

_Sakura pulled herself up and swung a fist, punching Orochimaru straight in the jaw._

"Give me a test to prove my worth. I can heal and fight. I have an affinity for genjutsu. I have excellent chakra control. Train me, you bastard," Sakura hissed, pulling off her Leaf forehead protector and slashing it with a kunai.

_Orochimaru smirked. "You have spirit. Perhaps that could be arranged."_

The scene switched again:

_Sakura was in her house, writing a letter in smooth red ink onto a plain scroll. The desk was below a window through which it was obviously nighttime. A single tear crawled down her cheek as she wrote it. She finished it off with her signature. She rolled up the scroll and left it on her desk, then grabbed a pack from her bed. Sakura's room was a rich red, but surprisingly bare. There was a small dresser with some drawers from clothes along with a mirror. On top of the dresser was the Team Seven picture._

_Sakura walked over to the picture. She picked it up. Stared at it. In a flurry of movement, she grabbed a kunai from her holster, which was lying on the bed, and slashed a large X over the whole photo. It went right through her face but left the others reasonably untouched. The she set it face-down. "That's not who I am," she murmured to herself, then repeated it. "That—that's not who I am."_

_She grabbed her holster and a small backpack from her bed, which was neatly made. She walked out the door to the living room, where her civilian parents were. Her father, who had smooth white hair with a spike in the bangs, was munching on some chips from a bowl while reading a scroll. Her mother, whose wavy pink hair reached her waist, was sitting at a table painting a picture of a tree. Sakura silently went to the doorway and put on her shoes, keeping her eyes on her parents. She wanted to savor the moment._

_Her father glanced at her. "Where are you going, Sakura?"_

_"I'm training with Tsunade-sama," Sakura lied effortlessly. "It's important to be able to fight in the dark as well. I'm training my night-vision."_

_Her mother turned around from her work. "Sweetie, are you alright? You've just seemed so upset today."_

_Sakura smiled brightly. "I'm fine! Just a bit tired from the mission in Tanzaku Gai."_

_Her parents seemed to accept that. "Be careful," her mother said and turned back to her art._

_Sakura opened the doorway and suddenly choked out, "I—I love you. Bye." Then she was shutting the door and running, running in the cool night breeze to the road that would take her out of the village._

_She was there, at that bench. She stopped at it and hung her head. "I was too weak," she murmured._

_"What you're doing isn't right, you know," said a voice from in the trees._

_Sakura whirled, kunai immediately in hand. "Show yourself!"_

_Nara Shikamaru stepped out with his hands held up._

_"What are you doing out here?" Sakura asked in the coldest voice she could manage._

_"I could ask you the same," Shikamaru retorted. He saw Sakura wasn't buying it. "Well, yeah. It was only a matter of time before you decided to pursue Sasuke on your own. You resented us for going on the retrieval mission without you. And Naruto talked to me today, said you came back one night with blood all over your hands and in pretty bad shape. Obviously something traumatic happened that convinced you that either Konoha is scum, you need more power, or both. So now you're going to leave and you're going to Orochimaru. Is that right?"_

_Sakura barely suppressed a smile. "For someone so lazy, you're pretty smart. Are you going to try to stop me?"_

_Shikamaru studied her. "My affection for my friends who will be affected by the loss of you is telling me yes. My common sense is telling me no. If you land a single hit on me, I'm gone. I don't want to injure you, but you wouldn't mind hurting me to achieve your goal. The only jutsu I have that I could use on you without hurting you is my shadow bind, which you already are familiar with. You know it wears off. I'm not particularly fast, so I can't get behind you and knock you out." Shikamaru stretched. "It's too troublesome to work out a strategy. I mean, I set up a trap and everything but…"_

_"A trap?" Sakura asked curiously._

_Shikamaru grinned lightly. "Yep." He pulled an almost invisible wire and the ground underneath Sakura crumbled, and she fell into a pit._

_Sakura almost laughed. "I get it. All that talk was just to distract me and keep me from going… so you could make this pit." Shikamaru walked over to the top of the pit. He nodded down at her._

_"So you'll hear me out. Sakura, it's not going to help Sasuke at all if you go there to train with Orochimaru. You can't convince him to come back just yet, since he's set on a goal. Just like you. And you have other means of gaining power. I'm telling you this because, like you said, I'm smart and maybe you'll trust my judgment and I won't have to deal with Ino bitching and crying for weeks. It'll be worse than Sasuke, and that's saying something."_

_Sakura gave a "hn" and raised her fist. Shikamaru leaped away in fear. Using chakra, Sakura walked up the sides of the pit. She turned her back to Shikamaru. "I'm leaving, Shikamaru. Maybe we'll meet again when Konoha sends a squad after me. Do me a favor and wait for my parents to read the scroll in my room." With that, Sakura walked away._

_Nobody bothered to stop her._

Sasuke felt someone grab the scruff of his neck and pull him bodily out of the mud, and the mud hardened into ground.

"Get _out _of my mind," Sakura demanded. She was there suddenly, on the plain where Sasuke was standing—in her old red and black medic outfit, which Sasuke had never seen. "You have no right to be here!" she stepped toward him.

"Don't bother," Sasuke said menacingly. He was going to get to the bottom of this if it was the last thing he did. However, he could see it wasn't going to be easy. Sakura raised a fist, and punched him square in the jaw. He flew back. "How—" she wasn't even supposed to be able to speak to him at this point!

"You idiot, Uchiha," she growled, punching him again. "Had you paid attention to me when we were younger, you would know that I've had my best friend walking in my mind for my entire life! I _know_ how to deal with you! And wasn't it you who said I had an aptitude for genjutsu? Go to hell!" Sasuke fell, reached for his sword—it was gone. Sakura kicked him in the side, and he _felt _the pain. "You arrogant bastard. You traitor, you moron, you… how _dare _you violate my privacy like that! How dare you _leave_, how dare you go to the snake-bastard without me! Prick! You made Sakura leave, you made her destroy herself just so that she could—" It was the most emotion Sasuke had seen from her for a long time, and the use of third person was more than weirding him out. He received another kick to the ribs.

"I think that's enough, Inner," Sakura's disembodied voice said smoothly from all around.

"I was just getting started! I've wanted to do this for SO long!"

"We can't damage him mentally too much. Orochimaru would get pissed, as this is his next vessel."

"Argh! I don't give a shit about Orochimaru! We haven't gotten to really punch anyone for so long! Like Naruto! And—"

"Shut up, Inner, and release the Uchiha."

"Fine," the "inner" Sakura groused, and gave Sasuke one last kick so hard he went flying into the sky and out of Sakura's mind. She called after him, "If you bother Sakura again I'll make sure personally you'll lack the parts needed to revive your clan!"

He landed in his own body with a _thump, _doubled over in pain, dropping to the ground.

Sakura picked him up, muttering, "_Moron. _You got Inner pissed. You don't _do _that when she has free reign in my brain. Idiot." Then she reached over and closed his eyes. "Sorry, Sasuke. I'm leaving. But I'm sure we'll meet again. I'm going to go to Akatsuki and take the ring Orochimaru wants, just to screw with him. Maybe it has some power I can use. After that, I'm not sure what I'll do, but it's sure as hell not go back to the snake-bastard. I don't trust him to help me achieve my goal…you shouldn't either."

She set him down on a rock that was reasonably flat. "I guess it's a bit cruel of me to leave you in this condition. But it's not like you don't deserve it."

Sasuke was just fading out of consciousness when he felt her lean down, her hair brushing against his face and her breath on his ear. What she said made him freeze, his breath catch.

_"Sasuke…thank you."_

Thump.

Everything went black.

* * *

Sasuke woke up. He staggered to his feet, ready to fight, but in every direction there was only sand. He collapsed into the ground, the sand scratching his back and the heat fogging his mind. He was going to die out here. He could barely move, after all.

"Pff, Uchiha. I always knew he was a pussy," said a voice. Suddenly Tayuya's red hair came into view as she leaned over him, along with that girl from the chuunin exams, Kin.

"What do you want?" Sasuke got out.

"We're taking you back to the Sound. The pink bitch get herself killed?"

"Yes," he lied.

"Right then. Let's go. One, two, three—goddamnit he's heavy! Let's get you back. Boy, you screwed up. Do you at least have the rings?"

"One of them."

"Failure," Tayuya snorted. Sasuke wanted to retort, but he passed out much quicker.

Sakura was burnt, tired, and in no condition to be lugging around three bodies: a puppet, an old lady, and Deidara. Hell, she was still in her camisole and her shoulders were a nice lobster-red, her fair skin peeling and gone forever. Sakura gritted her teeth and adjusted her grip. Sasori was on one shoulder, light since he was wood, which allowed her to carry the old lady on the same shoulder. On the other she carried Deidara, whom she had stripped of his cloak in an attempt to make him lighter. She tried to keep him knocked out—she'd have a load of trouble to deal with if he woke up.

She remembered Sasori's last few words: "_Since you're so desperate to find the Akatsuki, I'll do you a favor and tell you. You've impressed me. See that mountain in the distance? That's it. They'll be away from the actual base, sealing the bijuu, but the 'house' won't be far. In all likelihood, you'll get yourself killed." _

She realized she wasn't making nearly as much progress as she should be. Reluctantly, she dropped Chiyo. Dead weight that wouldn't help her. Showing up at Akatsuki with a dead member and an unconscious one would help as a distraction, but a Sand elder? Not very impressive.

As much respect as she had for the lady who saved her life, Sakura figured she had to become ruthless if she ever wanted to get strong. She had to abandon…what had Sasuke called it? Konoha's pointless sense of honor? Yes.

So she strode on, moving faster without the extra eighty pounds on her back, walking toward the mountain that could very well mean her death. But she'd had plenty of life-death experiences in the past few hours. The idea wasn't nearly as daunting as it should've been.

* * *

**AN: First off, please take the poll on my profile about what Sakura's elemental affinity should be. I have one in mind but I want to hear your opinions! Feel free to leave a review/PM explaining your outlook.**

**Second off, I seriously hate this chapter. I'n not entirely sure why; I just do. So I'm sorry if it's a piece of crap but I couldn't bear to read it over one more time.  
**

**Third off…it was difficult for me to write Sasori's death again. Actually, I originally wrote Sakura beating him on her own since she's gained abilities AND he's lost the hundred puppets, but just no. So I made it off-screen. I didn't want to write over the whole fight again, but you can expect a flashback very, very soon giving the basics of what happened. Still, I think it can be assumed that essentially the same thing happened but because Sakura did not have an antidote, she died shortly after killing Sasori and Chiyo saved her, seeing her potential as a medical ninja and knowing she had accomplished most of what she could do in life. **

**Also, Sakura saying 'thank you' has been in my head FOREVER. It's her sort of revenge for what Sasuke did to her, ne?**

**Reviews make me very, very happy :) And willing to update faster.  
**


	17. Evil Lair

**Hey, come on guys, it's only been...wait, what? 53 DAYS? Gaaah I'm sorry. School got in the way, you know how it is! Anyway, I've wanted to write some of the scenes in this chapter FOREVER. I guess you could sort of consider it filler, but it's necessary for the transition and stuff. Sorry it's kinda short!**

* * *

Sakura collapsed.

The pounding heat made her head swim. She hadn't had anything to eat in days. The sun felt like it was piercing through her skin, literally. Deidara and Sasori were just getting heavier…and heavier… and heavier. The fight hadn't exactly been easy, and even if Chiyo had healed her when she brought her back to life… she was dead on chakra.

The sand was horribly coarse.

She really should have thought ahead. She should have stayed with Sasuke, but she was about two miles away at this point and she felt like she couldn't take another step.

She heard a groan from her side.

It was Deidara, sitting up and rubbing his bruised cheek. Sakura shut her eyes and played dead.

"Well, that's interesting, yeah." Deidara said hoarsely. "Pink bitch k.o.s me, apparently has killed Master Sasori, and then collapses. Wow. Takes a real idiot to be THAT skilled. And she left the Uchiha behind too. Wonder if she's dead, yeah."

Sakura slowed her already snails-pace heartbeat, hoping it would fool the Akatsuki member as he picked up her wrist for a pulse.

"Poor bitch is still alive. Oh well."

Sakura cracked an eye open, seeing it wasn't working. "Hi there," she said.

Deidara narrowed his eyes. "Hi. What are you"—

Sakura swung a fist.

This time, Deidara caught it. "Same trick won't work twice, girl." Deidara stood. "And I can stand, which clearly can't be said for you."

Sakura fell back. "Yeah." She croaked, "So watcha gonna do to me?"

Deidara mulled it over. "You're coming to Akatsuki. I'm sure there's a few secrets on the Hokage in your head. Plus, Hidan will thank me for giving him a new plaything, since you have spirit and all. Or maybe they'll feed you to Zetsu…who knows?"

"I object," Sakura protested.

"Too bad," Deidara smirked, and knocked her out.

* * *

Sakura dreamed.

She dreamed that Shikamaru was yelling at her. _"You're an idiot! You shouldn't have gone after Akatsuki!"_

_Ino was next to him, sitting on a bench, crying hard, shoulders shaking. Shikamaru glanced at her and looked back toward Sakura. "Look what you've done! You've hurt all your friends!" He swept his arm and gestured to the rest of her old friends, all of whom had appeared, wearing solemn expressions and all dressed in black._

_And then Naruto arrived. He walked up to her and just…stood there. The worst thing, however, was when Sakura looked into his eyes…she saw hollowness. She saw everything that should never, ever be seen on Naruto's face. "You chose him over us," he said, voice just as empty. _

_Then a cold voice from behind her. She didn't have to turn who it was. "You're too weak," the voice sneered. "You can't break the bonds. You choose them over me."_

_And then there was Sasori, the Akatsuki she'd killed. Pale as a ghost. "You killed me," he said emotionlessly. "You killed. And you had to sacrifice the life of an innocent old woman to do it. Aren't you just disgusted with yourself? You're not worthy of joining the Akatsuki, little girl."_

_The worst: Kakashi looking at her solemnly, the kunai in his forehead, murmuring, "You've disappointed me, Sakura."_

_

* * *

_

As Sakura came too, she immediately heard voices and kept still. _Observe your surroundings before letting them know you're awake, _she reminded herself.

"…and this _girl_ took down Sasori?"

"Yeah, her and some grandma."

"…her hair is pink."

"Your hair is orange. Your point?"

"She's been out for hours. How hard did you hit her?"

"Well, she was already pretty exhausted. Chances are she hasn't even eaten in days. Maybe she won't wake up."

"Hn. Anyway, I don't have the time to watch over her. Get our favorite interrogater to watch over her. We're in his room anyway. Maybe the girl has some information on Orochimaru we could use."

"Yeah, fine, whatever."

Footsteps padded away from her. A door opened and closed.

Sakura leaped up. This was her chance to…to what? Get away? Look around? She was right where she wanted to be: Akatsuki's base. But she was having second thoughts. Maybe, just maybe, Orochimaru would take her back if she brought him the ring… the ring!

She winced. Her arms still ached, but at least her throat was no longer parched. Someone had been nice enough to give her water. Her stomach was still growling a little, but she figured she had enough strength to punch through at least one wall. She'd been on a rough cot—there were two in the room. The room was bare, although there were some oddities on one shelf that sat between the two beds. The walls were wooden and hard. There were no windows; the only light came from several candles. Yep, typical evil lair. At least she was no longer dressed in summer wear—there was a dark, brown cloak around her. She assumed her surroundings were fairly cold, since she still wanted to shiver. Perhaps it was nighttime…

As Sakura looked behind her, she saw, among various other strange decorations, a severed hand in a jar. She grimaced upon realizing it had a ring exactly like the one she was looking for. It was suspended in a greenish liquid. Perhaps there was some sort of jutsu on the ring, where it would destroy itself the moment it left the finger of a living hand…such measures were not unheard of; they were great to prevent theft. Still, this should be easy. Sakura reached over and unscrewed the top of the jar.

"You're not very good at the whole sneaking thing."

Sakura froze, her hand inches away from the severed one. That voice was horribly familiar, yet not so. She hadn't even heard the footsteps…she closed her eyes. She'd been discovered. She figured she could hold off most of the Akatsuki members, even in a tired state, unless it was…

"My eyesight may be failing me, but you seem slightly familiar."

…_him…_

"Ah yes, you were on the same team as the Kyuubi and…"

…The betrayer, the slaughterer of an entire clan…

"My little brother."

…Uchiha Itachi.

She was _so _screwed.

* * *

"What brings you here to my…ah…humble abode?"

Sakura mentally ran through all the books she'd read on the Uchiha. She remembered one of them saying, very clearly, "If you're one-on-one with an Uchiha, run. You have no hope."

So Sakura did just that. She ran.

But she couldn't run. A hand seized the back of her cloak, and though she tried to rip out of it, she couldn't—and the hand grabbing it had quite a peculiar ring on it. "Not so quickly…let's talk a little."

She knew now she was trapped in a genjutsu. She could not break free—she was clamped against a wall, invisible ropes suspending her. Itachi was standing a few feet away, looking straight at her, his arm hanging lazily out of his Akatsuki cloak adorned with red clouds. "Speak," he said briskly. "Why are you _really_ here?"

Sakura's lips moved, and she couldn't stop them. The words forced their way out of her throat… "I'm on a mission," she gasped out.

"For whom do you work?" Sakura fought. She bit her tongue until blood flowed, craned her neck trying to stop the bonds constricting her throat. She struggled for breath as her blood dribbled down her neck. She couldn't answer, she wouldn't betray Orochima—

"So it's Orochimaru, is it?"

What? How had he known? She hadn't spo—

"You don't have to speak aloud. You are in my genjustu. I control everything. I know your thoughts. You may as well be screaming them to the world. What does he want from Akatsuki?"

_Don't think about it_, Sakura told herself. _Don't think about it, and he can't get the information from you._ Instead, Sakura began translating the Ninja know-how into sign language in her mind, ignoring the blood dripping from her chin.

Itachi seemed amused. "You're an intelligent one. Let's see how strong you are." The ropes around her arms and legs tightened, and Sakura's nerves screamed out in pain. She felt her radius crack. "Ngh—" _Ponies! Ponies! Think about ponies! _But it didn't work: she couldn't see her usual distraction galloping through meadows of pink grass. She had to find something to take her mind off of her mission. Something that would also stop Itachi. She gritted her teeth and forced her closed eyes open. After all, it wasn't like Itachi could put her in a worse genjustu. Sakura knew she would literally bite her tongue off if she tried to speak, so she thought her broken words. _Why did you kill your clan—and why did you leave Sasuke alive?_

Bad idea. It definitely didn't stop Itachi. The ropes tightened. Sakura continued her assault: she visualized Sasuke, in all his glory, defending Naruto from Haku, attacking Kakashi, screaming in pain from Orochimaru's bite when he was first given the curse seal. Sasuke's smirk. Sasuke sparring with her. Sasuke at the Valley of the End, his shoulders barely trembling—There was a flash of red, and Sakura coughed blood, feeling one of her ribs crack. Pain shot through her, and then her brain decided it had had enough and shut down.

Through her darkening vision, she saw Itachi standing over her, his face entirely emotionless. And then everything went dark.

* * *

Sakura woke, and for a moment she felt nothing.

Then she let out a scream of agony, and when she was done, vomited over the side of her bed.

Wait, bed? That couldn't be right. She was on a mission. She wasn't supposed to have a bed—

Then she remembered what had happened, faintly, before another pang of pain hit her and she bit down on her fist, hard, muffling her scream. Tears sprang to her eyes, threatening to flow.

"Oh, for the love of…aren't you supposed to be a medical nin? Heal yourself already."

Was that man at her bedside _blue_?

Sakura raised her undamaged arm—which was now bleeding from her biting it—and attempted to heal herself. It was then that she realized that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her arm. The nerves were screaming, but the bone was perfectly intact. It had to be aftereffects from the genjutsu. "Who—why am I here?" she croaked, her voice hoarse from screaming. "Where's…"

"Itachi?" the man supplied. "He's out, talking to the leader about how you're too weak to interrogate correctly. I'm Kisame, by the way. As to why you're here, that's what we couldn't get _you _to tell us. Deidara says you wanted to come to Akatsuki, but none of us know why."

_Kisame. Another missing-nin from the Rain or something…_ Sakura thought blearily. "What day is it?"

"Oh, you've been out for three days. Itachi's genjutsu apparently did a bit much. He fainted right afterwards too, ya know."

"Wait… three days? WHAT?"

"Shut up! You wouldn't want one of the other members to find you. Trust me. They're not as nice as me." Kisame showed all his sharp, shark teeth. Sakura supposed it was supposed to be some sort of sick grin.

She missed Sasuke's smirk. She missed her cold, hard mattress at Orochimaru's base. She missed her kitchen, where she could make all the rice balls she wanted. She missed…everything she'd taken for granted.

She had really gotten herself into a mess now.

Alright, time to proceed with what she'd come here to do. This was when she'd throw her life and everything she cared for away.

"I want to speak to your leader."

"You can tell me and I'll relay your information to him," Kisame sneered. "You're not important enough to see the leader."

"Oh, I will be," Sakura said. "I'm going to willingly tell you everything I know about Orochimaru, on one condition."

"And what's that?" A skeptical expression.

"I want to join Akatsuki."

* * *

**What. A. Twist. Wheee. Sakura, make up your mind. Are you gonna nab the ring and run or join Akatsuki and get stronger?**

**Anyway, sorry again, guys! I'm so grateful for all the faves and alerts and stuff. Reviews would be even more awesome!**

**Hopefully the next update gap won't be nearly as large! I'm having a little spat with writer's block, which is why this might seem a little bit forced.  
**


	18. Initiation

**AN: 18 chapters… the story is growing up! –sniff- It's legal now! It can vote…and have sex!**

"You? Join Akatsuki?" Pain looked like he could laugh, but, of course, being the evil badass he was, he didn't.

Sakura steeled herself. She'd managed to convince Kisame to lead her to Pain—she could convince Pain she was worthy. "Yes. I am Haruno Sakura. I trained under two of the legendary sannin, both of whom I can provide information on. As I'm sure Deidara has explained, I killed Sasori, proving that I am as good as him. Sasori claimed he took out an entire country. It seems to me I am more than capable."

"Can you recount what you did during the fight to beat him?" Pain asked, unimpressed. "Deidara tells us that the Leaf took out his greatest weapon before you got to him."

Sakura remained silent. Pain remained undaunted. "Show me what you can do."

_Now we're talking, _thought Sakura. "Do I get a dummy to hit or something?" she asked dryly, sounding a lot more confident than she actually was.

Deidara laughed derisively as Pain shook his head. "You'll spar with one of the members."

_Ohshiti'mscrewedican'tdothisi'mtooweakthey'resostrongthey'?_

Through Inner Sakura freaking out, Outer Sakura kept on a poker face and merely said, "okay." She surveyed the Akatsuki present. Apparently these people called "Hidan" and "Kakuzu" were out on a mission, so it was up to her.

"Hey, Leader," Kisame said with that creepy grin. "If she supposedly has super strength like the Hokage, let's see how much of my chakra she can counter."

Pein didn't even look at him as he said, "Kisame will test you. Be warned; unless you go at him with a killing intent you will get nowhere."

Sakura winced at him familiar the words were—but this was totally different. This was not the bell test. This was actually life and death… Kakashi-sensei she could trust, but this freak…what was that thing on his back anyway? Some sort of mummy? It had a handle, so it was probably a sword, but good would it do all wrapped up like that?

As Kisame stood across from her, Sakura looked around. Was there anyone here who would stop her from being cut to ribbons? She surveyed Itachi's emotionless countenance. Nothing there. Pein's crossed arms. Nope. Deidara's sneer. Definitely nope. The plant-dude appeared to be focusing on the scene very intently, but didn't appear particularly charitable. The guy with the orange mask was giggling, but seemed more delirious than helpful. The blue-haired woman…would she help someone of the same gender? Sakura tried giving a small smile, then realized her error. This was Akatsuki. Nobody cared for smiles. She grimaced instead and returned her attention to her opponent.

_Kisame Hoshigaki_, she thought from the Bingo Books. _No qualms with slaughtering anybody endangering the mission. Former Hidden Mist Ninja (Alias Monster of the Hidden Mist). Gets stronger in proportion to strength of opponent. Shit… my 'inhuman strength' will just have him feed off it. Low genjutsu and relatively low intelligence, but insane strength and stamina… everything's pointing to the fact that I have to use my intelligence. I may have used some genjutsu in the past, but I'm just not confident with it…_

"You start," Kisame smirked.

Sakura jerked out of her thoughts and took a breath. She formulated the beginnings of a strategy.

"In a battle, you don't have time like this," Pain said, looking unimpressed.

Sakura winced as she remembered Sasuke saying almost the exact same thing… _"You do realize that in an actual fight, you hardly have time to stretch."_

And then she grabbed three kunai without warning and threw them, the speed catching Kisame off guard. Without checking to see whether she'd been successful, Sakura used the distraction to charge. She drew her fist back and punched—only to feel blinding pain.

When the dust cleared, she saw that none of her kunai had hit and that her hand was currently entrapped in the snarls of the enormous sword Kisame had unwrapped—just the tip. Blood trickled down her arm and dripped onto the floor. And her arm was weak and limp, her chakra being drained…

"Samehada doesn't _cut_ flesh," Kisame told her smugly. "He _shaves_ it off. And he _loves_ chakra—he'll eat yours right up."

Grimacing, Sakura pulled her mangled right hand back. That would stop her from using any powerful punches. Which, she realized, should have been the plan from the beginning.

She narrowed her eyes and took an experimental swing. Samehada blocked. She tried to kick, but the sword was large enough to block both blows. She jumped back, aware that this was not a very impressive display.

Kisame was still just standing there. He hadn't even moved.

Sakura growled and made hand-signs. She ran at Kisame once more, but this time she flickered right before she would hit him and the next thing Kisame could know, he was getting hit from behind. He stumbled forward. Sakura's next hit was blocked by Samehada, and Kisame swung the sword at her, but Sakura ducked it and threw a shuriken. It grazed one of Kisame's gill-scars, causing a small drop of blood to trickle down. He recovered quickly though, and the next hit seemed impossible to avoid. And then…it went right through Sakura.

"How...?" Kisame wondered out loud, and swung again. This time she flickered and disappeared. But that wasn't supposed to…

Sakura hit him right under the chin with her left, fist, full strength. Kisame flew against the rock wall of the base and a bit of the surface crumbled onto him. Sakura finished it off with a kick, and Kisame coughed up blood. "Genjutsu!" she crowed.

"Nice trick, girl," he said, then made the summoning seal and Sakura found herself encased in sharks.

Ow.

Sakura punched through as many as she could, but her bleeding right fist wasn't making it easy. She jumped as far as she could, knowing sharks had to be underwater to breathe, so maybe they'd disappear. She used the chance to heal her wound. Sparing a glance at the sidelines, she realized that the Akatsuki members seemed to be a little interested by now.

Kisame had, at this point, gotten himself up. "Genjutsu," he repeated. "Nice trick." With that, he was suddenly right in front of her—that speed!—and Samehada was on her, draining her chakra. Sakura allowed her legs to crumple so she could dive under Kisame and kick his legs out from under him, but he reacted in time to step on her. Sakura was pinned. Kisame raised the sword to make the finishing blow when Sakura made handsigns and two snakes grew out of her torso and wrapped around Kisame's legs, flipping him over. Two more snakes wrapped around his thighs, attempting to keep him down. Unfortunately, Kisame cut right through them and resumed the attack. _Doesn't this guy get tired? _Sakura thought desperately, dragging out a kunai to slightly deflect the monstrous sword bearing down on her.

Clearly Kisame had a lot of chakra. Alright then: she'd just have to find a way to block it off. Discreetly, Sakura reached into her pouch and fingered some senbon. She jumped away, throwing a shuriken as a decoy and aimed the senbon. Only one hit, but it was in his sword arm and Kisame hissed. He pulled it out, but the damage had been done: chakra was already being hindered. Sakura smirked, glad for her infallible accuracy. She'd trained with TenTen, the weapons mistress herself, for a time… but this wasn't a time for reminiscing.

She tried the same attack, but even though Kisame wasn't necessarily a genius, he was a member of Akatsuki. He wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. Sakura suffered a blow from Samehada, a roping scar forming across her stomach and chest where it had hit. Gasping for breath, she staggered. Kisame punched her with rough, scaly fists, grabbing her kunai and turning it on her. It grazed her shoulder. Sakura sank to her knees. It had been right on the already irritated curse seal…she was tired, and she wasn't going to be able to repress Orochimaru's chakra for much longer.

The first seal began to crawl up her neck, pain lancing across the burning area. She had the presence of mind to jump away, so that Kisame couldn't take advantage of her pained state. She leaned against the crumbling stone wall to steady herself until her whole left side was covered in the seals. She unsteadily raised her hand to heal herself (though healing chakra came more difficultly in curse seal state), hovering over the worst wound on her belly. Power was already starting to course through her. For the first time, she examined the seals. They were shaped almost like tear drops, or perhaps petals. Actually, they looked very similar to the seal itself where she'd been bitten. They lanced across, and they twinged in pain but Sakura stood with a smile.

She was seeing purple and realized it must have been the curse seal's energy. Like that first time Sasuke got his…she glanced over at Akatsuki again. Pain still looked emotionless, Deidara looked angry. After all, he must have seen Sasuke's seal as "cheating". The plant-dude almost seemed to be… smiling? No time to think. Kisame was incoming: he obviously didn't know how this worked at all.

She stood and drew her fist back…punching right into Samehada. "Get a load of this chakra," she growled in a voice that was not her own. And she let the curse-seal chakra flow right across to Kisame, to burn his veins as it was burning hers. It wouldn't kill Sakura, since she had the original curse which gave her a small immunity, but Kisame could very well die from this foreign contaminant. Kisame howled and jumped back. Sakura kicked Samehada out of his hands, using snakes to ensnare Kisame and trap him against the wall. Not losing a moment, she kicked his hard, scaly stomach and punched his face, breaking her nose. Her knuckles were bruised, but that was okay. Kisame attempted to bite at her, but these snakes were stronger and he didn't have Samehada. Sakura reached around his head to clap him on the temples. Unconsciousness was immediate. Just to be safe, she disabled his arm by pressing certain chakra points. He slid to the ground.

Panting hard, Sakura tried to make the curse seal go away as she faced the rest of them. She had…she had an urge to _kill… _she wanted to see _blood… _more blood splattering the ground…

"Orochimaru's curse seal," Itachi said emotionlessly. Pein nodded in comprehension. "This may be her first time using it. In all likelihood she cannot control the bloodlust it brings."

Pein turned to look at her again. "Your next task is to heal Kisame. Heal every injury you dealt, maybe more."

What? Heal? She'd just barely restrained herself from killing him, the fucker. She wanted to kill! Could she at least cut his chest open with a scalpel? Maybe 'accidentally' stop his heart? She was just considering ways to pull it off when Itachi met her eyes with sharingan.

The curse seal decided it was time to go now.

Almost drained of chakra, Sakura dropped to her knees, gripping her shoulder.

"Well?" Pein said. "You're no good as a medical ninja to us if you can't heal in a tired state."

Sakura glared at him, but started to crawl to the wall. She made an effort to stand; it didn't quite work. She hovered unsteadily over Kisame. Throwing off her cloak, she got to work. She forced out the chakra to the bruises, aware that the rest of Akatsuki was coming over to watch. Sakura had made few blood-drawing wounds. She barely heard Konan whispering, "She leaves little trace in terms of blood. Good for leaving silently."

Normally Kisame's injuries would have been no problem to heal, but Sakura was tired. Very tired. So she tried a rather dangerous technique, drawing on Kisame's own chakra to heal him. Her chakra acted merely as a chaperone so that she could manipulate Kisame's chakra and take it to the right place.

When she was sure there was not a scratch on him, Sakura undid the damage to his arm.

"It's done," she said and looked expectantly at those looking down at her. They had formed a circle, their Akatsuki cloaks foreboding. Well, this was the moment of truth.

"Your initiation will take place tomorrow at sunrise," Pein told her without a hint of expression. "Rest and recover until then. You will stay in a room with Itachi and Kisame."

"I'm in?" Sakura asked dazedly.

"You're in."

She was in.

She was Akatsuki.

* * *

The next day, Kisame shook her awake. "Wake up, bitch. Time for your initiation."

Sakura yawned and stretched, aware that she was once again in just a camisole and pants left over from her Sound uniform. "Are you going to call me 'bitch' for the rest of my life?"

"The rest of your life, which may be very short," Kisame smirked. "Anyway, follow me. Time for initiation."

"Initiation? What, so I get my cloak and get introduced to everyone?" Sakura yawned.

"Not quite," Kisame laughed. They walked down the dimly lit stone hallways (apparently, they had carved out these hallways in the huge mountain. Sakura didn't want to know the power of jutsu necessary for that) until they reached the same room in which Sakura had sparred with Kisame: the one with a hugeass statue with a lot of closed eyes. Sakura assumed that was for the sealing of Jinchuuriki.

In the room, lit and warmed only by a huge fire in the middle (Probably Itachi's doing), stood all of Akatsuki. Evidently Hidan and Kakuzu had returned, because there were two new members.

It was certainly…odd.

"This pink bitch 'proved herself worthy'?" Hidan asked skeptically. "Yeah fucking right." Sakura could tell they were going to get along just fine: they were thinking the same thing, after all.

"Haruno Sakura," Pain said. "You will be the newest member of Akatsuki. To insure that you do not betray us, there are some binding jutsu we must place on you. As long as you are in this organization, you will obey my orders only, and cooperate with the other members. We also expect that, since you are a medical ninja, you will heal any injuries of members to the best of your abilities. Do you agree to these terms?"

"Yes," Sakura answered, determined to stop her hands and knees from shaking.

"To complete the jutsu, simply repeat my handsigns. This jutsu will also reveal uncertainty, so if you are not positive you should be here, if you are planning treachery, I suggest you stop now. It will kill you."

"My intentions here are pure," Sakura said firmly.

"Then we will begin."

It was a long jutsu, about ten minutes of repeating handsigns. Sakura felt her energy slowly being drained; her chakra must be getting added to some sort of storage container. She wasn't sure what the purpose, but she knew that if she stepped out of line Pain would know. This was it. On the short term, she was losing power, but she would gain it. Surrounded with these powerful people, she would learn and become strong, strong enough so that nobody would die when she wanted to save them. So powerful she'd never fail again.

When they'd finished, Sakura felt tired, but not nearly as much as yesterday. It had been a tough week. She hoped she'd get at least a little bit of rest…

"YAY!" The orange-masked guy—Tobi—shouted, and started dancing around the room. "Sakura-chan joined! Wheee!"

"Tobi, shut up!" Deidara reprimanded.

"Konan?" Pein asked.

"Yes." The blue-haired woman stepped out of the ominous line and, holding a cloak, handed it to Sakura. It was embroidered with red and black clouds, just like all the other Akatsuki uniforms.

Konan said emotionlessly, "Welcome to Akatsuki."

"Now, before we are dismissed, there is the matter of a partner for Haruno," Pain said. "Now that there is an opening—what with Sasori's death—there should be even groups of two."

Sakura looked around nervously. All the members were foreboding, but she'd be willing to take any of them, just not him…she probably couldn't handle it…

"I've determined that Kisame and Deidara will be paired together. Are there any objections?"

Nobody spoke. Sakura realized with growing horror that that just left…

"Very well then. Haruno will be partnered with Uchiha. She will take Kisame's bed. Uchiha, any objections?"

"None," Itachi replied smoothly.

* * *

**AN: You guys had better be grateful. I put off my school projects to finish this…I'll probably get a bad grade…but it was worth it! This has been eating at the back of my mind for a while! **

**Dude, I do my fight scenes WAY too much. I can just see them happening in my head, and I play epic music in the background and have to overdescribe EVERYTHING. It's fun ;) But seriously, would you have believed Sakura had subdued Kisame if I said "and then Sakura won. The end."? No. On a side note, I remember NOTHING about Kisame, so if something was off with his fighting weapons, sorry. **

**So, dundundun, Sakura is paired with Itachi. How will Itachi use this to his advantage concerning Sasuke? Will anything happen between the two of them? Can Sakura help Itachi in any way, or will she just be a hindrance? Will she stay with Akatsuki? Place your bets!**

**And I know the initiation ceremony was lame, but honestly, I have no idea what it should be like. The closest we ever saw was Pein introducing Itachi. Meh.**

**This wasn't proofread. I have a lot of work to do...  
**

**Reviews appreciated as always. **


	19. Nail Polish

**AN: This chapter answers the age-old question: Why do the Akatsuki wear nail polish? Enjoy!

* * *

**"Sasuke-kun…word has reached me that Sakura-chan is dead. Is this true?" Orochimaru's voice was deadly soft.

Sasuke only nodded.

"How did it happen?"

"We had a disagreement. A fight. I killed her, as she was endangering the success of the mission."

"The success of the mission? The mission was a failure."

"Because of her." Sasuke turned away. "I don't see why she was so important to you. She had no potential at all."

"Kabuto found some powerful medicine in your bag and in your digestive system. You've suffered many injuries lately. She clearly healed you at least once. I am not pleased at your killing one of my subordinates, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke started walking out. Before closing the door behind him, he said, "I'll make it up to you."

* * *

Whenever Kakashi was at Tsunade's office at exactly the time his appointment had been marked, the Hokage knew something was wrong.

"Kakashi," Tsunade said tersely. "What's up?"

"You're not going to like it," he said somberly.

"I usually don't."

"You're_ really_ not going to like it."

"Kakashi, you got here _on time_. I've already braced myself for bad news."

A sigh. "The thing is…I just got in a report from the spies I posted around Orochimaru's base…"

"You posted spies without my permission?"

"Yeah. But that's not my point. My point is…word is, well…Sasuke has come back from the mission."

Tsunade's fists clenched. "So?"

"…Sakura…hasn't. According to intelligence…she's…"

They said the last word together. "Dead."

Tsunade slammed the clenched fist on the desk, making a crack in it and sending papers flying. She stood. "I can't believe it. I won't. This is absolute bullshit. Your spies are crap."

"Tsunade—"

"Just shut up, Kakashi." Tsunade marched over to the nearest refrigerator and grabbed the closest bottle of sake. Judging by the label, it was the strongest stuff made in these parts. She took out two glasses and put them on the weakened desk. She pulled up a chair and motioned for Kakashi to sit.

Kakashi usually didn't drink, but this time called for it. As they drowned their thoughts in alcohol, Tsunade murmured between coughs, "How could we have gone so wrong?"

"It's probably my fault," Kakashi admitted. "I was so focused on training the boys that…and, well, I thought that after Sasuke she'd want to be left alone, but...I misjudged. I'm not fit to become a teacher. Naruto deserves—" it dawned on both of them. "Naruto is not going to like this."

"Understatement of the year," Tsunade mumbled. Her speech was becoming more slurred and there was a faint flush to her cheeks. "She had so much potential…would've been a fearsome foe… could've convinced Sasuke ta…" she slumped, picture of distress. "We can't let Naruto know this."

"Can't let me know what?" asked a cheerful voice from the doorway. Naruto had barged in without warning—as always. Oh, perfect timing. Just perfect. His smile fell at the fact the sight of his sensei hurriedly pulling up his mask and the distress on both of their expressions. "Hey, what's up? Did something happen?"

"Nothing," Tsunade answered, forcing a smile to her face. But Naruto noticed a sheet of paper clenched in Kakashi's hand.

"What's this? Report from spies…concerning…" all the blood left Naruto's face. He glared at the two others. "You _believe_ this rubbish?"

"Naruto, I—"

"You two are getting senile. Based on some fodder ninja and rumors, you think that the bastard killed Sakura-chan? Yeah, right!" Naruto laughed. "Besides, didn't you guys just go on a mission without me? You saw her! She was well and hearty! Sakura-chan's just fine, we just gotta find her and bring her and Sasuke back!"

"Naruto…" Kakashi heaved a sigh. It was pointless for Naruto to prolong this obsession. He had to absorb the brutal truth. He pulled out the other delivery from his spies—it had been carelessly thrown onto the ground outside the lair. It was Sakura's baggy Sound shirt, the green faded and stained with blood. Pakkun had found the blood to be a mix of Sasuke's and Sakura's.

Naruto took the shirt in bewilderment. Kakashi continued, "The blood belongs to both of them… obviously, Sakura picked a fight with Sasuke-kun, and… well, Sasuke won. There's even a puncture wound on the shirt, senbon as well. Even Sakura's hair."

Naruto pressed the shirt to his chest, staring at it. "No way…Sakura must have thrown the shirt down or something…or used it for something medical…"

"I'm pretty sure news about a girl walking shirtless across the deserts would reach us," Kakashi said softly. "Besides, if Sakura hasn't returned…then where is she?"

"She's coming back!" Naruto responded with that insufferable grin of his. "Sakura-chan's coming back, obviously, she just had to fake dead to get away."

"If Sakura, like you believed, went to get back Sasuke, why would she leave without him?" Kakashi asked.

"That's enough, Kakashi!" Tsunade reprimanded sharply. "Naruto has a right to believe what he wants."

"He's not thinking rationally," Kakashi responded. "As his teacher, I have to…I mean, he should have learned long ago that your comrades die. That's the life of a ninja."

"It's you who's being stupid, sensei," Naruto said carelessly, crossing his arms behind his head. "You want to believe, for some reason, that they're beyond help so you don't have to bother saving them. I'm going to be Hokage. I can't give up on them. You know that. Anyway, I came here to warn Granny that next time people go on a mission concerning my teammates without me, I'm following them." With a final grin, he jumped out the window.

* * *

She couldn't stand the silence. She knew Uchiha were soft-spoken, but they'd been in the room together for two hours with not a word exchanged. She had to say something...anything...

Sakura burst out, "Why the hell didn't you kill me on sight? Were you afraid of getting blood on the ground or something?" She winced and looked away. Maybe that wasn't the best icebreaker she could have thought up.

"…No," Itachi answered, undaunted, as he carefully applied black nail polish. "I didn't kill you for several reasons. One, word has it you are apprentice to the best medical kunoichi ever to have existed. I have an…illness that perhaps you could help." He finished one hand and waved it gently in order to dry it. "Two, you are familiar with Sasuke and could provide me with information on him. Three, you killed a member so we need a replacement anyway. I figured Pain would allow it." He began painting the next hand. "And, of course, I saw no reason to. You were too weak to interrogate, and now you could be an asset to the organization. I was—as always"—he finished that hand and blew daintily on it—"correct."

Sakura just stared at the nail polish.

Itachi noticed. "Ah—would you like some?" He tossed the bottle at her.

"No thanks," said Sakura, throwing it back. "I'm not that kind of person."

"It is not about what kind of person you are," Itachi responded. "This is not a fashion statement."

Sakura was surprised. "Then?"

"This nail polish is special—Sasori's own formula. It allows you to store chakra in your fist so that your strikes are more powerful. For those Akatsuki who are not naturally brutally strong, it is a useful asset. I suppose it is not unlike your regular punches. Yes," he confirmed upon seeing her shocked expression, "I saw your punches with the sharingan; you concentrate chakra in your fists. With this, you would be twice as strong and have your current strength with no trouble at all."

She should have known the Akatsuki weren't prissy men to wear nail polish with no purpose. So they _weren't _all gay. Shocking. She reached out her hand. "I'll take some. But what I'd really need would be some gloves that could store chakra like that…" she sighed and looked at her current gloves, lying on her cot. They were tattered, especially the fingers. She grabbed a kunai and cut off the damaged parts—they were now fingerless gloves. Then she took the nail polish and applied, brushing on with somewhat sloppy technique. She tried to bite back the memory, but it came anyway.

_"Honestly, Forehead, you're totally useless at this!" Ino despaired, throwing up her hands in annoyance. The acrid smell of nail polish filled the whole room; it was Ino, TenTen, Sakura, Hinata, and two of Ino's cousins at a sleepover a few years ago. There was, of course, nail polish and makeup. Sakura had managed to give Ino some decent eyeshadow, but when it came to the nails she'd only managed to get huge globs to drip off onto the towel. Ino shook her head in wonder and growled, "Here, I'll show you how it's done."_

_With a gentleness contradicting the roughness in her voice, Ino took her hand and applied a fantastic pink manicure. Sakura hadn't let it wash off for days. _

But this wasn't pink; it was black. And this was far, far, _far_ from a sleepover.

Sakura realized she'd been lost in her thoughts for twenty minutes or so, and her nails had dried. She glanced over at Itachi, who appeared to be bent over some sort of work. Sakura leaned her head a little and had to bite back a gasp. It was a painting… a clearing in a forest, beautiful and vivid. The Uchiha had been artists, but Sakura hadn't thought…

She'd forgotten Itachi basically had eyes on the back of his head, so when he spoke, she jumped. "You know, Akatsuki is not uncivilized. Many members are here for reasons other than killing everything in sight." He put down his brush. and looked around at her, eyes hard. "But we do not show mercy, and this is not a ninja academy. We are ruthless, and we hurt people._ Badly_." With the hint of a smirk, he turned back to the painting, picked it up, and promptly incinerated it. The ashes fluttered to the ground.

Sakura bit her lip. "I—Itachi-san."

Itachi stilled to show he was listening, but didn't deign to look at her.

She realized now: during the initiation…he'd helped her. When she had the curse seal and bloodlust, Itachi had helped her control herself by discreetly using the sharingan…

"I know this isn't an academy, and I don't expect any academy teacher here. But I'm sure you noticed… I… need work. A lot of it. I need some sort of training."

"You're a genjutsu type," Itachi drawled. "So you want me to help you improve that. Your taijutsu needs work, and you have no shape manipulation to speak of. Is that correct?"

"Y—yes." He knew too much...she would have to get used to that.

The genius ninja shook his head. "It's a marvel you managed to beat Kisame—but then, you have intelligence, so you could figure out how to deal with him." Finally he turned around and met her eyes, sharingan whirling. Sakura forced herself not to look away. "I'll train you. Pain won't give us a real mission for a while. I won't have you being a burden."

A burden. A burden. Useless…annoying… weak.

_Not anymore. _

"We'll start shape manipulation tomorrow. I have to find the chakra paper…"

* * *

**AN: So I've gotten so many reviews and I'm so happy that I've decided that I'm going to do what I've seen some authors do: allow requests. See the rules on my profile. **

**So I worked through Halloween to get this up, because I've been procrastinating. Sorry, guys! I can't update much faster than this if you still want bearable chapters.**

**Argh, writing Naruto's character kills me. I never know the right amount of happy and serious to include, because I just see him as a big, overconfident goodball who gets REALLY lucky. Meh. Everyone's different. Itachi, on the other hand, is fun to write but I'm not sure I do him justice, hahah!**

**Well, hope you all have/had a happy, safe Halloween or just a good weekend if you're not American!  
**


	20. Crow

Tsunade knew it would be a difficult conversation when Haruno Sakura's parents entered her office. Perhaps they would be furious at her for allowing her to leave, for not training her enough, for not telling her to stop being a ninja—some irrational reason. Perhaps they would look to her for comfort that she couldn't give. Perhaps they'd even want some sort of compensation. If it was monetary, Tsunade supposed she could afford that…but she figured it wouldn't be so easy. The married couple entered.

"W—we just thought…well…we didn't tell you but…she left this note…the night she left." Mrs. Haruno's lower lip trembled. Tsunade smiled kindly and took the offered slip of paper, but as she read it the smile faded off her lips.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_ At this point, I should already be gone. There are so many things I want to say, but… I just…can't. Anyway, I'm tired of being weak. I guess you guys were right; becoming a ninja has taken ahold of me. I can't stand being the worst in our generation. Tsunade's training has definitely helped me, but just not enough. I don't have the potential to advance like a genius. I need a different kind of training. I need training motivated…by, well, fear. Fear has been the only thing to budge me, ever. So fear it is. I need to train under somebody scary. Or…I don't know. I just need to train under someone else._

_So I'm going to Orochimaru's. I want to be able to protect you and the people I love… I want to be strong enough to tell Naruto to forget Sasuke. To bring Sasuke back—for him. _

_I guess that makes me a nuke-nin, but I bear no ill will for Konoha. It tears me apart to leave behind everything…but I have to do it. I won't live this life. _

_I'm going to kill him, everyone. Kill him for all the pain he caused everyone._

_I'm going to kill Uchiha Itachi.

* * *

_

Itachi made true on his promise. The training was brutal and tough, but it felt…good. Orochimaru's training felt like she would die every day, like it wasn't worth it. Tsunade's training felt like she was getting nowhere. But Itachi's and occasionally other members' training… it felt…it felt like she really was improving. Like they wanted her to improve. Like she was part of the group.

The next few months went by in a blur. Itachi spoke little, so there weren't many deep conversations to remember. Sakura could recall only snippets, like that time she'd been throwing kunai.

"Your aim is atrocious," Itachi had smirked at her, examining that Sakura had hit only 9 out of 10 targets.

"They're difficult targets!" Sakura huffed. "I'd like to see you do better!"

Itachi raised an eyebrow, and Sakura realized her error, but it was too late. Coldly, Itachi grabbed the kunai pouch, turned his back to the targets, and hit them without even looking back. All in the exact center, while Sakura had only hit 2 bullseyes.

"I can do better, and I always will," Itachi reminded her impassively. "Remember that."

And of course, there was the physical training, since she wasn't in good enough shape to suit the interests of Akatsuki. It was running, jumping, weightlifting…a lot of it. One time, it had gone a bit far.

Sakura buckled over and heaved. Coolly, Itachi questioned, "Is there a problem?"

"We've been running for three days straight!" Sakura gasped out, grabbing her knees. "Leaping trees is all fine, but this…I haven't… I can't…I mean, I used to be able to do it! Back in Konoha I could have!"

Itachi surveyed her. "Orochimaru's steroids, I believe. They help you as long as you get a constant dose of them—now that you're separated from his croney, Kabuto, and no longer get those injections, it is limiting your power."

"They should've left my system by now!" Sakura panted, straightening and performing a quick self-check. Her chakra was absolutely depleted and her muscles burned, and sure there were some foreign toxins but there wasn't any poison in her bloodstream…

"Orochimaru wouldn't have let go of you so easily. He obviously wanted to maintain some sort of control. Perhaps it is in some way associated with your curse seal."

"It has been hurting me a bit lately," Sakura admitted. "I've been trying to study it, but I never got around to finding a way to remove it… although I'm sure he wrote it down somewhere…"

"You should place a seal around it," Itachi suggested. Then Sakura braced herself and started running again.

Then there was the time Itachi had keeled over, coughing blood, after a genjutsu training session.

Sakura panicked, words flying out of her mouth in a jumble. "Holy shit I'm sorry wait how did I do that I couldn't have done that are you okay what's going on how do I stop this does this happen often?"

Itachi had given her a glare amidst coughing and pointed to his bag.

Sakura understood, rushed to it and, in the first pocked, there was a bottle of medicine. Extremely strong stuff. Sakura's eyes bugged out, but she figured he must trust this thing, so she unscrewed the cap and put two drops into Itachi's open mouth. After five more seconds, the coughing died down and Itachi smoothed his clothes, composing himself.

"…what the hell was that?" Sakura found herself asking.

"I did tell you, on that very first day, that I have an illness," Itachi reminded her, somewhat hoarsely.

And there was the first mission they'd had to go on.

* * *

All of Akatsuki had been gathered. Pein told them, "We've discovered a very rich heir to an even richer lord in the Rain. Kakuzu has suggested that we take the money, as it would help a lot, and we have an easy way to infiltrate: he is holding a grand ball in the Earth country. We'll send one pair as an inconspicuous couple who will track him and figure out how to get the money; the methods are up to you, but killing him would cause an unnecessary uproar. We've done this before. Any volunteers?"

"I volunteer Kakuzu's team since it was his idea," Deidara called loudly. "Because I'm not transforming into a girl again. Ever."

"You didn't even _need _to transform," Hidan smirked at him. "You already look like such a bitch that—"

"Why don't you do it yourself, Pein?" Kakuzku asked, crossing his arms across his chest. "You and Konan must have some sort of experience with this…"

"I'm busy," Pein said shortly.

"Well then, make Haruno and Itachi-san do it," Kisame grinned, then faltered at the glare Itachi sent him. "Sorry, Itachi-san, but it's true."

"It _is _true," Pein agreed thoughfully. "Since you are unwilling to take fighting missions yet, on account of Haruno's training, this could help your teamwork, in which you seem to be…lacking."

Sakura was certain her blush was visible even in the dimness of the chamber. And it was definitely visible to Itachi's sharingan. Oh Kami, Itachi… he was twenty-one years old! She was sixteen! Oh, and then there was the whole matter of him being a murderer who made Sasuke's life miserable!

"W—with all due respect, Leader-sama," she said timidly, then tried to make herself sound stronger, "I am not exactly…experienced…in—in this."

"Well, you will have to learn, because you will occasionally be asked to do such things in this organization. It is not all about brutal murder. It is about gaining money and cutting off loose ends to fulfill our goals. Haruno, Uchiha, I am assigning you to this mission. The ball is in four days; you have that time to reach it."

Well, shit.

* * *

When they got back to their room, Itachi ordered, "Pack only what you need; we're traveling light and quickly. I want to do surveillance; perhaps we can avoid going to the ball at all."

"How long will the trip there be?" Sakura questioned as she threw a few things into her kunai pouch and put on a sweater under the Akatsuki cloak. It may have been burning hot in the Sand, but Earth was much farther north.

"If we go at a good pace without stopping, we can get there in two days."

"Two days only?" Sakura gasped out. "That's an awfully long distance to run in a short time."

Itachi merely looked at her. "Who said we were running?"

Sakura, confused, followed Itachi out of the room and then finally, finally out of the huge cave that made up the base. The sun blinded her, the heat feeling unbearable on her now pale and sensitive skin. Most of their training was either during the night or inside the base; Sakura felt like she hadn't seen sunlight in a very, very long time. And she hadn't—for about six months now.

Running in these conditions would be debilitating to her.

Itachi wordlessly grabbed a scroll from in his cloak with some brush strokes on it. He nicked his finger with his teeth and slammed his hand down. "Kuchiyose."

Sakura had only a faint notion of what the point of this was. Was he going to summon some sort of beast of burden to carry them? They couldn't move that much faster than the two of them on foot…

Her question was answered when she heard the rough flap of wings.

Possibly the biggest crow she'd ever seen in her life was soaring out of the sky, coming to a smooth landing right in front of Itachi. It had a collar around its neck, with the Uchiha symbol charm dangling from it. It was a huge but beautiful animal, feathers silky and obsidian black. It was probably even a raven… the sight itself was breathtaking.

Itachi walked up to the bird and petted its flank. Probably because he only reached up to its flank. "It's been a long time since you've summoned me, Itachi," the crow said.

Of course—it was a summon. It could talk, just like Katsuyu or Manda. But this crow was more elegant than either, but also radiated danger. Even Itachi showed respect to it. "Forgive me, Kurasu."

"Last time you summoned me was for your ANBU exams. The cats told me quite a bit has happened. I guess the reason nobody summoned me is that nobody was around to do so, and your little brother never learned, huh?"

"Yes, Kurasu."

"Ah well…I guess I should be glad that I'm here again. Now then, what was it you needed, Ita-chan?"

Sakura almost choked at the term "Ita-chan." She regretted it immediately, because the crow seemed to notice her for the first time and turned toward her. Its eyes held intelligence. What a remarkable creature…

"And who's this? A girlfriend?" Sakura spluttered and started to deny it, but Kurasu went on, "Well, introduce yourself, girl…your name?"

Sakura gaped.

"You chose a mute girl? Really, Itachi?"

"I—I'm Haruno Sakura," Sakura said in a small voice.

Kurasu gaffawed, which was very interesting coming from a crow's mouth. "Haruno Sakura? Are you the same one from back in the day, the one Sasuke always-"

"Yes," Itachi interrupted. "Kurasu, if you please, we need to get to the Earth Country within four days."

Kurasu laughed. "Four days? You forget who you are speaking with, Itachi. You are speaking with Kurasu, the lightning bolt, the lord of the sky! It will take no more than one." Kurasu's legs buckled as the bird knelt, allowing Itachi to swing on. Sakura awkwardly grabbed a few feathers, not wanting to cause pain. When Kurasu gave a warning grunt, Itachi sighed, reached over, grabbed her hand, and pulled her up to sit in front of him. His hand lingering a bit longer than necessary must have been Sakura's imagination.

"Ready, children?" Kurasu asked, ruffling his wings so that a bunch of feathers handed on Sakura.

"Yes," Itachi said curtly.

There was a jolt as Kurasu stood up, and another greater jolt as Kurasu took off running and a change in gravity as they got into the air. Itachi made a few handsigns, clearly casting a genjutsu that would conceal the huge bird and its passengers. With each powerful beat of Kurasu's wings, Sakura thought she would fall, but she kept a tight grip on the raven. The one time there was a sudden change in direction, Itachi caught her, barely, and advised, "Lean forward a bit more."

Sakura did, and with her cheek buried in the soft feathers of the bird, and the gentle rocking of flawless flight, she managed to fall asleep even in the blinding sun.

* * *

**AN:So we learn another reason Sakura left...to kill Itachi. Although it doesn't really look like she's making good on that. Did she forget or something? Or did she just change her mind? Who knows?  
**

**Damn Kankuro for stealing the name I wanted to give the bird, "Karasu" or "crow". That puppet doesn't look like a crow at all! I just figured that since there are Uchiha cats and stuff, there might be some Summons that only the Uchiha use. Kurasu is one of the best. He doesn't judge Itachi for slaughtering the clan, hahah!  
**

**Sorry for not updating last week. Writer's block, tests, taking a lot of subjects on the side, doing chores, hanging with friends...it all piled up into a big "Yeah, I'm not getting another chapter up". **

**But I will probably be able to get one up next week. **

**This chapter killed me because it's a bit of filler for a future event that I'm looking to happen...I want to get there, but I can't just jump to that, so...yeah. **

**Don't forget- 99th, 100th, and 101st reviews get a request! See my profile for more info on that.**

**Reviews are a great motivation to update more!  
**


	21. Dance With Me

"Sasuke-kun, you need to focus," Orochimaru reprimanded as Sasuke once again summoned a large electric eel instead of Manda. "You are always messing up the handsigns. Here…"

Sasuke felt more than uncomfortable as Orochimaru stood behind him and literally moved his hands to form the tiger seal. Angrily, he shook him off. "I know how to form seals," the raven spat as he attempted the jutsu once more. But Orocimaru seized him and forced him to look around at him.

"You need to learn some more respect," he hissed, and Sasuke felt himself immobilized by that stupid fear genjutsu the snake had used that first time in the Forest of Death. He _knew _it was just a genjutsu, but he simply couldn't release it. He couldn't even get his hands together. "You are inferior to me, Sasuke-kun. You will obey my commands, so that you may train your body to become a better, more suitable vessel, or I may just choose somebody else. And then, you will _never_ kill you brother—you will wither away, useless and without a purpose."

Sasuke drew his lips back in a snarl and tried to shake off the terror, pretending Orochimaru's words had not just hit home. His curse seal burned.

"The Haruno girl had so much more potential." Orochimaru drew a long-nailed finger down Sasuke's cheek, still standing behind him. Sasuke resisted the urge to shudder and throw up. "But you had to kill her, didn't you? But there's the catch. You didn't kill her." The snake laughed. "My sources tell me your ex-teammate has joined _Akatsuki_. Your brother won once again. You couldn't even keep the girl who was so devoted to you."

How the hell could he know all this? It was like he'd been reading Sasuke's mind or something. Sasuke felt violated and angry, wishing more than anything that he could move and wipe that stupid sneer off Orochimaru's face. He merely clenched his fists and shook, trying to dig his nails into his palms so as to get rid of the pain. Sakura…Sakura joined Akatsuki? No way. Orochimaru was just screwing with his head.

"If you don't like the way I do things here, go back to Konoha. Run, _run_ like the _pathetic_ little boy you are."

Finally, Sasuke got a full-body chidori going, and Orochimaru was forced to jump back. With hate in his eyes, Sasuke glared. He searched for the correct words to tell Orochimaru to fuck off, but they wouldn't come.

So, holding his head as high as he could, he walked away, back into his room.

* * *

"So why is a Rain lord's son holding a ball in the Earth?" Sakura asked as Kurasu began to descend.

"He's getting married and will be living here. This is not the marriage, but the house-warming party, if you will. The girl's father insisted that she stay in the Earth, so the Rain lord's son, Dai Tochigi, is becoming a bit of an ambassador, I suppose. It will help smooth over any tensions. And _everybody_ loves a party." Itachi added the last part dryly.

Sakura snickered.

"Tochigi and his fiancée will be staying in the largest building in this small village—the girl's father presides over this one town. Naturally, the Tsuchikage has more influence, but he can't be everywhere at once."

There was silence, until Sakura said, "Um…Uchiha-san?"

"Hm?"

"This large building…it wouldn't happen to, you know, have a green roof?"

"It does. It is the only one in the village that does."

"But, uh, it doesn't have like… a whole compound behind it and stuff, right?"

"It does. It is owned by a rich man."

"Uh…we're going to have a bit of a problem."

Itachi raised an eyebrow and glanced over Sakura's shoulder. Then the other eyebrow shot up as well. "Ah. I see what you mean."

The place was swarming with shinobi.

* * *

There was a knock on the door to Naruto's apartment. "Yeah, yeah, coming!" Naruto called, wondering who would come around now. It was 6:00, every sensible person was having dinner (he, of course, was currently getting ready to train). He opened the door.

"Oh, hey, Ino. What's up?"

"Is Hinata here?" Ino peeked in. Naruto stepped back and let her in.

"Yep. I think she's eating dinner, go ahead. I'm going out to train. Hey, Hinata! Ino's here!"

"Hello, Ino-chan, please, come on in!" called the timid voice from the 'kitchen'. Ino noted the absence of a stutter.

"Feel free to eat something, there's plenty of ramen in the cupboard," Naruto said cheerfully, then left for the training grounds.

Ino navigated her way through the dump that was Naruto's apartment. She found the one table in the house, where Hinata was currently eating instant ramen. The former Hyuuga gave her a small smile. She was looking thin from her months in prison—Naruto's was no place to be keeping her. She needed something more than ramen. "How you feeling?" Ino asked.

"I'm well, thank you," Hinata answered, the same small smile. "I'm glad everyone's had closure…the Hyuuga heard about what happened to Neji. There will be some sort of uprising soon, no doubt."

"Honestly, have you had anything but ramen since you've gotten out of prison?" Ino questioned, cutting to the chase.

"Umm…I had some dango…"

"Hinata, I know it's great to be living with Naruto, but he can't…I mean, he doesn't know anything. Just because he can live on ramen doesn't mean everyone can. And just look at this dump!" she gestured to the scene around here. There seemed to be a pair of boxers on top of the microwave. "You need to find somewhere to live, unless you plan on marrying him or something." Hinata blushed at the suggestion.

"Ino…I appreciate your concern, but… Naruto is the best thing for me. His smile…every time I see it, I feel like I'm healing a bit more. I wanted to pay him a rent, but he wouldn't accept it…"

"Well, at least he's a gentleman in that respect," Ino muttered. "But Hinata, girl, you've got to get out more. We've got to do some things together. I mean, not to be blunt or anything, but you own nothing—technically not even the clothes on your back. We have to make you a life. You're not a Hyuuga anymore, so you don't have to hide from them. And Tsunade-sama…she secretly approves of what you did. I know it. And Neji-san! He's still a Hyuuga, but he's in debt to you. You have friends."

"I know," Hinata replied.

"Anyway, do you want to have dinner with me and my team on Friday? It'd be a start," Ino offered, although it wasn't really an offer. It was more like an order. Hinata nodded.

"Oh! Would you like some ramen?" she seemed to realize that since she was technically a hostess, it was her job to offer up food.

"Ah…sure." In reality, Ino didn't feel like food at all, especially not ramen, but being her snooping self (and proud of it!) she wanted to look around.

As Hinata got up and prepared the meal, Ino walked around into the room. There was a single, tattered armchair, with Hinata's jacket slung over it. Presumably, that was where she slept. Naruto probably slept on the bed in the corner. The room was in horrible shape, clothes everywhere. The window was open—anyone could just jump in and kill them in their sleep! Ino's heart softened and clenched when she saw the framed picture of Team Seven on the dresser. They were all so young and happy. And Sakura…Sakura was in the middle. Surrounded by friends. Now she had to be lonely…

Upon thinking of Sakura, Ino caught a funny scent. It was something she smelled every day—blood. But it also had the distinct scent of… Sakura's hair. Ino's eyes narrowed as she followed the smell to the corner, where there lay an old, torn green shirt. When she first saw it, Ino had assumed it was Naruto's, but it occurred to her that everything Naruto owned was orange or black. This was the type of color he'd never wear. Ino picked up the shirt—and found it to be stained with blood.

A note fell from the folds of the shirt. Ino read it, but dropped it halfway through.

Everything connected, and she immediately wished it hadn't.

The blood was Sakura's. The shirt was torn and had Sakura's hair on it because it had been hers. And the note…

"No," Ino whispered, but her rational side told her it was true.

Sakura was dead.

* * *

Tsunade was just trying to sneak some sake out of the freezer Shizune had restricted her from when Ino burst into the Hokage's office.

Slamming the fridge shut behind her, Tsunade noted the expression on Ino's face. She couldn't put a name to it.

"We—we're holding a funeral for her," Ino hissed furiously.

Ah. So that was it. Tsunade heaved a sigh, grabbed the sake from the freezer, and went to sit at her desk. She pulled a chair up across from her own for Ino. "Sit."

Ino didn't move.

"I said _sit." _

Ino grimaced at her, but grudgingly settled into the seat.

"How did you find out?"

"Naruto's house," Ino responded, crossing her arms in a hostile manner. "A shirt with her blood and hair on it and a note from Kakashi's spies? Only a moron couldn't figure it out. And yet, Naruto seemed happy enough."

"He doesn't believe any of it," Tsunade said, pouring a glass of sake. She pushed it toward Ino and grabbed another glass for herself.

"I'm underage," Ino pointed out.

"Do I look like I care?"

"You're the Hokage."

"Again. I don't care. It's good for the soul."

Ino shrugged and took a drag of the alcohol, then keeled over coughing. When her head came back over the desk, she exclaimed, "Holy—you drink this stuff?"

It was all stalling. Stalling from addressing the elephant in the room. Tsunade already knew how this conversation would go: Ino would insist that Sakura be remembered as a hero, Tsunade would say she couldn't do that for a traitor, Ino would say that Sakura didn't really leave of her own will, that she should be given a chance, Tsunade would lose it, probably break a few things, and inform Ino that in real life, there _were no second chances. _Ino would cry and Tsunade would order her out of the office.

Sighing, Tsunade pulled out the note Sakura's parents had left and watched as her pupil's eyes flitted over the paper.

There was a knock on the door. "Enter!" Called Tsunade. Nara Shikamaru stepped in, eyeing the sake with curiosity, but walked forward to look over Ino's shoulder. To Tsunade, he said,

"I'm here because I wanted to give back those scrolls I borrowed." He pulled out a few papers from his vest, but continued to read the note.

"Naruto mentioned something about Sakura's death, or lack thereof," Shikamaru shrugged. "He doesn't believe a word of it."

Tsunade glared at him frostily. This was a delicate situation, Ino did not need to have it rubbed in—but Shikamaru continued, hands in his pockets,

"Consider this scenario: Sakura decides she wants to leave Orochimaru. She asks Sasuke to help. Sasuke is charitable. Sakura wipes some blood into her shirt—it's so easy to just prick yourself—and a few of her hairs. She wants to be considered dead so she can carry out her plans in peace—so she can kill Uchiha Itachi. Sakura doesn't tell Sasuke her purpose. Sasuke tells Orochimaru he killed her. And that's the information the spies giving this information received."

Ino looked back at him, eyes shining. "It's possible, isn't it?" she asked the Hokage.

Tsunade sighed. "Possible, but not probable. Why would Uchiha be so charitable? No, Sasuke has proved that he is capable of killing. And explain, then, why Sasuke's blood was present."

"A fight?" Shikamaru shrugged. "Or perhaps they were both injured and Sakura healed Sasuke."

"Still, it would be stupid to put off an A-ranked criminal as dead on so little evidence," Shikamaru pointed out, crossing his arms.

"Shikamaru!" Ino scolded.

Shikamaru fixed her in his gaze. "Sakura may not be dead, but you have to accept that she is a traitor. Even if she comes back to the village, I doubt she'll be welcomed. She may have wiped herself from the records—I checked, she actually did it—but there is overwhelming evidence that she lived here anyway. Somebody will find a legal way to give her the death sentence." He looked back to the Hokage. "As I said, she is dangerous. In any other situation, we would wait for positive proof that said criminal is dead."

The boy had a point. Tsunade narrowed her eyes. She'd spent the last two days grieving, and now she was expected to get her hopes up again? Oh, she was the Hokage, she shouldn't have hopes to keep the criminal alive. "You're right, Nara. We can't cross her out of the bingo book. But then, where is she? Because she's not at Orochimaru's base."

Shikamaru walked toward the door. At the last second, he turned back. "If she's not dead, she is without a doubt out to go kill Uchiha Itachi. Either she's gaining power from another source, or her ego is so inflated she thinks she can take him on herself. Sakura will be around one S-ranked criminal or another. Our job is to find out which one." He turned back around and continued out. He stopped once more. "But as you said, she is, in all probability, dead."

What an asshole.

* * *

Three days later, Sakura was standing in line next to _the_ Uchiha Itachi, preparing to attend a grand ball packed with shinobi. Turns out the couple getting married had more than a few enemies, so the security was at its max.

In the past few days, Sakura and Itachi had both gathered information and eventually managed to figure out where the heir in question was staying. It would be a simple once they were in the ballroom to incapacitate a few guards silently and to sneak to the room where the money would be hidden. Doubtless the money would be hidden in a safe. Itachi could probably use his sharingan to see through the code and crack the safe.

Of course it wouldn't be that easy. But that was the theory.

The real problem was getting in. There was literally a shoulder-to-shoulder guard all around the compound, and an invisible shield above the compound. The only way in was through the front door.

And that was why Sakura was brushing the knots out of her wet hair in front of a mirror, in the motel room she and Itachi had rented. Taking a dip in the hot springs had been utterly satisfying: for the first time in forever, she felt clean and exfoliated.

She'd had to dye her hair. Ninja would see that she was using jutsu and it would attract unnecessary attention, so genjutsu was out of the question. Her hair was now coal black. Unfortunately, they hadn't been able to afford contact lenses for both of them—the room was expensive enough. Sakura had already had to carefully steal an elegant dress from a store.

"I am ready when you are," Itachi called from the opposite end of the room, having faced the opposite direction to give Sakura some personal space to get dressed.

Sakura brushed out one last knot and put the brush down. She announced, "I'm good to go," and taped a single kunai to the inside of her thigh, under her long dress.

When Itachi turned around, Sakura didn't miss the way his eyes swept up and down her body twice before he turned toward the door and held it open for her. Sakura flushed; in order to fit in she had to wear what women traditionally wore to these kinds of events, her dress was unnecessarily revealing. The black silk crept down her torso, fitting tightly around her slim waits and curving out at her hips, slits running up her thighs. The cut was fortunately not too low, but still not exactly decent. Sakura felt exposed and constricted. It was going to be difficult to repress her senses and chakra. For all intents and purposes, she had to appear a normal citizen…

Itachi wasn't the bad looking either, having tied his hair back and placed the black contact lenses in his eyes. The sharingan was nearly permanent and more difficult for him to repress, so they'd had to color them. His lithe body was well outlined in his suit, which apparently he'd saved from his time in Konoha. He had had more time to pack than her, after all, and more space. He simply had to cover up the Uchiha emblem on the shoulder.

They walked, Sakura hobbling in the necessary high heels, to stand in the line extending halfway through the village. Once they got to the door, the doorman looked at them and asked,

"Sorry, your names are?"

"Saito Kane and my wife, Yumi," Itachi answered smoothly. Sakura was proud to say she maintained her expression and didn't flinch at the term 'wife'. The doorman frowned and said,

"I'm sorry, I don't believe I…"

The doorman looked up and met Itachi's gaze. He was surprised for a moment before Itachi firmly leaned over and pointed to an obviously blank part of the parchment, saying, "We are here, see? Old friends of Tochigi-san's."

The doorman's eyes looked bleary as he said in an almost robotic voice, "Of course. Forgive me, my eyesight must be diminishing. Welcome, Saito-san."

As embarrassing as it was, the fanciest party Sakura had ever been to was Shizune's birthday, so she attempted to follow Itachi's lead as they stepped into the room full of dancing, swirling people. He was an Uchiha; surely he knew all kinds of etiquette and attended many formal occasions before…before…the—the massacre.

"Bad choice of dress," Itachi murmured absentmindedly as they tried to make it look like they _weren't _pushing through the crowd to a door leading into the rest of the mansion. When Sakura shot him a confused look, he elaborated, "You…stand out from the other women."

"How so?"

"I'm sure you'll find out."

Sakura did find out when one of the more raunchy men present attempted to grab her ass when she fell a bit behind Itachi. It took all of Sakura's willpower not to turn around and punch the man into the refreshments. She gritted her teeth and continued to walk. And Itachi's shoulders were _totally_ not shaking with laughter.

There was a quartet playing their instruments on the stage platform. The violinist got up and said into the microphone, "All right, this next piece we'll be playing is a love song in honor of the impending marriage, so everybody grab a partner and enjoy yourselves!"

Sakura trensed as the sweet tones of a violin filled the room, a minuet beginning. The room was now full of swaying couples and pushing through them to get to the back was becoming more difficult. She managed to catch up with Itachi, but immediately wished she hadn't when he muttered, "The guard near the entrance we're going for is watching us. We must appear inconspicuous."

Immediately, Sakura stopped, casually folded her arms and moved her mouth so that it would appear she was making conversation.

"That is not inconspicuous," Itachi told her, his back to the guard. "We must do what everyone else is doing." He held out his arms. Wound them around Sakura's waist. Sakura was too stunned to move, so Itachi had to prompt, "Come on. Your hands go on my shoulders." When Sakura still didn't respond, he sighed and moved her stiff hands to his shoulders.

And that was how Sakura Haruno ended up dancing a love song with Uchiha Itachi, mass murderer, S-ranked nuke-nin, and Sasuke's brother.

* * *

**AN: No, I don't know what the Japanese wear for formal occasions—but then, it's Naruto. I figured I could utilize some artistic license. Also, they have computers, they can have contact lenses and hair dye. And violins. And—yeah. Being a cellist, I had to include some music. I don't know what they're playing, but I imagine it's something you'd expect at a formal party with dancers. Yule-ballish. Or something.  
**

**I dunno, I lol'd at the thought of Sakura and Itachi dancing. Itachi being all graceful, Sakura being scared out of her wits. So I had to include it. Also, it's drama and totally trolling SasuSaku :D I'm cruel. But Kishimoto is trolling the manga anyway.  
**

**Sorry about the whole not updating thing. I have an honor roll status to maintain, you know. Life is a bit FUBAR. **

**Btw, this will probably be the chappy to get the 99th, 100th, and maybe 101th reviews, so those people get requests. See profile for more info.**


	22. Guards! Guards!

Itachi let out a low hiss of pain as Sakura stepped on his foot for the billionth time.

"Sorry!" Sakura hissed. "I've never done this before!"

"Neither have I."

"You could just use your goddamn sha—uh, eye technique to copy their moves!"

"Which is precisely what I would be doing were you not attempting to crush my toes into oblivion."

…

"Let's dance over toward that door we want to use."

"A good idea. If you can call this dancing."

"Oh, shut up." Sakura caught a glance from a nearby woman and added begrudgingly through clenched teeth, "…_dear_."

So they edged toward the corner of the room, bumping occasionally into a swirling couple, trying to look natural. It was not easy, because Sakura still couldn't believe she was dancing with Sasuke's brother, of all people, and his hands were much too tight around her waist, and oh god, she knew she wasn't the most in shape, she could probably feel the fat—wait, why was she even worrying about this?

When they neared the guard, Sakura said, "I'll distract him. You can sneak up on him and dispose of him. Do it silently." Itachi nodded and, business-like, casually let go of her. He sank into the crowd flawlessly.

Sakura walked up to the guard and, putting on her cutest face, she asked, "Excuse me, mister ninja, but could you direct me to the restrooms? I can't seem to find them…please help me."

The man studied her, then nodded. "Follow me." He opened the door he was guarding, revealing a fork of dark corridors. He pointed to the left and said sternly, "Follow this hallway down to the end; you'll find the restrooms there. Don't try anything."

"Oh, don't worry, I won't!" Sakura laughed as the door shut behind them. The man whirled only to get caught in Itachi's glowing eyes. "I can't say the same for my partner, though," she finished. The crappy guard collapsed.

Itachi clasped his hands together to create a shadow clone, and it transformed into the guard they'd just disposed of and walked outside innocently to 'stand guard'. Meanwhile, Sakura dragged away the body to a corner.

"Now that I've used jutsu, the chakra flare will bring the rest running," Itachi said quietly. "We should hurry. Which room did you say the target sleeps in?"

"212," Sakura answered. "So it will be a floor up. Which corridor should we take?"

"…I detect three chakra signatures to the far left—four to the right—and…" he trailed off.

"What?"

"Get down."

"Wait, wh—"

"DOWN!" Itachi ordered, and Sakura hit the ground not a split second too soon as a dart flew over her shoulder, grazing the material of the gown.

Itachi was already retaliating as she stood up, raining kunai down on the scene in front. It was still utterly dark, so Sakura couldn't see a thing. She held up the knocked out guard's body, using it in front of her as a shield. She grabbed a knife from its pouch and held it up to the unconscious guard's throat, threatening, "You there—stand down or this man here will die!"

The darts stopped flying, and for a split second Sakura wondered why it was just darts. Why not shuriken? Did they not want to risk blood on the ground?

Without a doubt the enemy wouldn't try anything with a hostage. It was dark and they wouldn't possibly be able to hit her—

And that was when a dart hit her square in the forehead. She crumbled like a sack of flour and unconsciousness was immediate.

When Sakura came to, she made sure not to open her eyes. _Observe your surroundings first, _she thought, remembering one of the rules of the ninja-know-how. _It buys you precious time._

Uses your senses.

Ears.

The first thing she heard was the beeping of a monitor. The second thing was a voice saying, "It's no use pretending to be unconscious. I can read all your vitals."

Nose.

Smell of medicine. Chemicals. Mold.

Mouth.

She tasted bile. She must have vomited at some point.

Touch.

She raised her hand to her other arm, where she felt something. It was a tube. She was on a drip.

Judging by her surroundings, Sakura was in some sort of old hospital room, informal because of the mold, but they were advanced enough to get her in tubes and concoct something to make her sleep. And they had monitors.

Finally, Sakura opened her eyes and confirmed her suspicions. The room was hardly sterile, but the equipment was relatively advanced. She turned her head to see a woman standing there. No, a girl. She was about her own age, in fact. Strapped across her back were four swords, with intricate hilts. Her hair was silky white, and on her forehead—oh, no. The Leaf sign. And judging by the outfit, this kid was from Root. Shit, shit, shit.

Her assaulter stood up and bowed. "They all think you're dead, you know," the girl said. Emotionlessly. Tsunade had said something about Root lacking emotion, but this was just… wrong. "I suppose I should introduce myself. As you have probably already deduced, I am from Root, but I am filling in on Team Kakashi for you. I am trained in medical arts and ethics, so as to make the most logical decision when it comes to battle, healing and the like. Kohaku is my assigned name."

"How long have I been out?" Sakura asked raspily.

"Only a few hours. I was here on a solo mission protecting some people from the land of Fire who chose to come here. I spotted you, in your overly revealing dress, and noticed your green eyes and that you were the correct height and stature that Kakashi and Naruto had described. Right here in the bingo book."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"I've been instructed to bring you back to the village if possible," Kohaku told her. "You are currently still in the building where the Rain Lord's son is staying. The ball ended a while ago, though. Once my charge decides to return to the Fire country, I will bring you along."

"And you think I'll come willingly?"

"Taking into account that you are a reasonably high ranked nuke-nin, no. However, you will not have a choice in the matter."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "I have a partner who came here with me. He will save me."

"I assume you speak of the man who was with you when I caught you? He disappeared shortly after, but there is no way he got through the numerous defenses. There was a guard right outside, in fact. He was likely captured. Either way, you do not have to come willingly because you will be asleep. The drugs I have concocted are superior to those used by other villages; they pose minimal damage to the brain while still ensuring a long period of sleep depending on the dosage."

The way this Kohaku girl was speaking was unnerving. Confident, flawless. No, not confident. She didn't have confidence. She had no emotions. She was speaking with certainty, because she felt—rather, she _knew_— she had calculated all the outcomes based on the facts she was given and concluded that she would win. Damn Root.

"You haven't taken all the factors into account," Sakura smirked, leaning back. "Your plan will fail."

"And why do you say that?" Kohaku asked curiously.

"Because in the time that we've been talking and you've been gloating so confidently, I've worked the chakra through my body in order to purge the chemicals you've loaded me up on." Sakura's smirk grew as she ripped the IV tube out of her arm and sat up from the bed, undoing the binds at her feet.

With that, she stood and trudged toward the solitary door. "Seriously, Kohaku-san, was it? Don't get in my way, and you should probably keep telling my team that I'm dead. It will just lead to heartbreak if they know I'm alive, because they can't have me back."

Sakura turned the handle on the door. It didn't open. She tried again, and glanced over at Kohaku, who was sitting in the same position, arms patiently folded across her laps. "You locked yourself in a room with a criminal?" Sakura asked disbelievingly.

Kohaku merely nodded.

Exasperated, Sakura moved at her and punched Kohaku. Her punch landed. There was blood. It should have been a perfect incapacitating blow, except Kohaku was still staring at her. Confused, Sakura grabbed the girl's arm and made to break it. Normal ninjas at this point would be screaming in pain, but Kohaku kept that same impassive expression.

Sakura broke the arm and still felt no reaction. Her eyes widened as she realized what she was dealing with.

"That is correct," Kohaku confirmed, as if knowing what she was thinking. "I was part of an experiment in Root that, along with cutting emotions, cut the ability to feel pain." She tilted her head, raising her good hand to her broken arm with healing chakra. The problem was fixed within seconds. "So, Haruno-san, what else have you got up your sleeve?"

Itachi moved swiftly and silently as he moved toward the room from which Haruno's chakra was emanating. He had allowed the matter to rest for a few hours, hiding in the shadows and picking off guards one by one, so that everybody would think the conflict was over. Clearly, whoever had sedated Haruno had capture or experimentation in mind rather than death, so it was logical for him to take his time so Haruno could find out why she'd been captured and how the person had been able to see in the dark. Now he reached the door—number 312. He took note of that fact and attempted to open the door. Locked, of course. Itachi put his ear to the metal and listened. He caught the voice of another female. While listening, he picked the lock.

"…So, Haruno-san, what else have you got up your sleeve? You are weaponless and low on chakra."

So either Haruno had been interrogated and spilled her name, or this woman already knew Haruno. But Haruno was still in speaking or understanding condition, as he heard her smuggest tones echoing out—

"Well, it's hardly up my sleeve."

Itachi chose that moment to finish the work on the lock and barge in. He was just in time to see the pinkette draw a kunai from, it seemed, under her dress while her captor—a girl with gray hair—looked at him. In that split second Sakura hit the girl in the temple and slashed through a nerve cluster. "Good luck moving after that, pain or not," Sakura snorted and looked at Itachi. "You're late for the show."

Itachi chose not to comment and told her, "We are in room 312. Room 212—the one we want—should be straight below. Coming in through the ceiling will be a bit unorthodox, but it will work."

"Gotcha," Haruno grinned, and drove her fist through the floor.

Unsurprisingly, alarms blared the moment the room was 'entered'. Sakura grabbed the heaviest object she could see, the bed, and leaned it against the door.

"I'll deal with the safe. You deal with the guards," Itachi ordered.

"Right!" Sakura said. She took a quick trip into the wardrobe, however, to change from her dress into the Lord's son's pajamas, in which she could actually move. She also slipped on her gloves. It felt more than awkward to be fighting in pajamas, but she could manage.

The first blast of fire burned through the wooden door. The metal-framed bed, however, fell straight onto the first ten guards at the door and crushed them. Jumping over onto the bed, Sakura landed a kick on two of the guards. Another one clipped her with a water jutsu. She growled when she noticed several kunai hurtling toward her and performed a substitution. From down the hall, where had been the pot she'd substituted for, she called, "Hey, guys!"

It worked. She was charged at. Sakura got through one, two, three of the guards before she was bodily tackled to the ground. She bumped her head at the man straddling her, and he fell back, limp. Finally her large forehead could be used to her advantage.

She couldn't hold them off forever, though. She was out of chakra and tired as fuck. Her punches weakened and she was grazed several times with a weapon or two. She fought her way back to the room, to see Itachi pulling out the briefcase, presumably full of money. He gestured at the window, which was flapping and open. Was he crazy? They were three stories up. Falls like that were not fun. A ninja hit her in the back of the head, and Sakura staggered forward, her vision swimming. "Stupid girl," Itachi muttered, then grabbed her around the waist and threw them out the window. As they fell, he performed a fireball jutsu to prevent anybody from following them—they would be too busy trying to save the now poor man's room.

Sakura figured they were falling to their deaths and expected her life to flash before her eyes any moment now. Naruto, Kakashi-sensei…Sasuke… Kurasu…wait, what? THUMP. Sakura felt herself hit a large, feathered back, and they were rising again, and only later would it connect that they'd been caught by the stupid crow and Itachi was planning it all along.

"Sit up, I can't hold both you and the suitcase," Itachi ordered.

Sakura slid out of the awkward position they'd been in (her in his lap, her head lolling on his shoulder) and leaned forward, resting on the smooth featherbed that was the Uchiha bird's back.

"Thank you, Kurasu," was the last thing she heard Itachi say before the exhaustion overcame her.

AN: Yeah, yeah, I know, somewhat sucky, but I wanted to update and get the transition over with. Also, I did my best not to make Sakura seem overpowered, but I'm not sure if I succeeded, so you may wish to leave me advice on that. Also, I find the idea of someone feeling no pain deliciously creepy. Argh, sue me. It's 11 at night after a long day. I'm probably hallucinating all of this.

Also, the requests were won by .Fashion Monster., Red Lips 'nd Cloudy Eyes, and Ally the Bat. So you all get a oneshot or more. Thanks loads to everyone who reviewed and reviews, though! I've been writing fanfiction for, let's see, four years or so, and this is the first time my story has reached that many reviews, so I feel really happy!

This isn't proofread or anything…but I just want to post it now. So yeah. See ya!


	23. Letter

Sakura spent a year in Akatsuki, training and doing Pein's bidding. She grew to know each of the members at least a little, especially when they had to pass time while draining the six-tails. She'd learned to complement Itachi on his missions and not be totally useless, and although she still couldn't hold a candle to the sharingan her genjutsu had improved. They treated every mission equally importantly, whether it was a life-death situation or getting Pein a cup of top-class tea. Speaking of which, tea—the Akatsuki had AMAZING tea. Sometimes Sakura would sit down with a cup of tea made from water Itachi boiled, and think that for this kind of tea she could get used to this life.

Deidara and Kisame naturally weren't too fond of her, but that was okay because she didn't like them much either. She avoided Hidan, because he made a slur on her whenever possible. Tobi was silly, but alright to be around because he was a much needed dose of humor and lightheartedness. Konan educated Sakura in the necessary arts for a kunoichi, detailing all kinds of missions she'd done. Sakura had gone on a mission with Konan once, and only once, because it involved a coven where only females were let in and while the other Akatsuki members could _look _like females, acting like one would take a lot of training.

Itachi had loosened up a bit, and taught Sakura to paint, since there was some free time when they would be caught in a snowstorm or sandstorm and only had Itachi's fire to warm them. Itachi had caught hypothermia once—that had been a bit of a mess. And when he had had a bit of sake, he even told her old legends of the Uchiha, things that hadn't been in the scrolls. He got this distant look in his eyes and Sakura never disturbed the moment by asking why he was so compassionate about the clan he'd slaughtered. She had no doubt that if she did, she would be in extreme pain before she could move a muscle. Or maybe she wouldn't, and that thought was worse…what if Itachi didn't care that he'd killed them, but missed them anyway?

Most nights Sakura thought about Sasuke—not cold and ruthless Sasuke, but the Sasuke who had laughed with her and Naruto, the one who had smirked, the one who had once, in his sleep on a long mission, snuggled up to her and an also sleeping Naruto and the moment was so perfect Sakura had been loathe to disturb it. The Sasuke who could be chastised by Kakashi. Sakura came to the conclusion that if she ever saw Sasuke again, she would beat him into the ground, then send him back to Konoha in a stretcher with a note to Naruto saying, "Happy birthday". Because Naruto needed him back more than she did at this point. Because she had a goal to achieve first, but Sasuke WAS Naruto's goal. He was his best friend, after all. After that, Naruto could focus on Hinata's advances—because it was so obvious she had feelings for him—and have fun with everyone.

Those nights, Sakura had to pinch herself repeatedly and take sleeping pills to stop thinking and remembering. It was better without the memories.

As much as she tried, Sakura had become known in the nearby villages—it was difficult not to notice a girl with pink hair parading past every so often in an Akatsuki cloak. She'd even gotten a reputation as a killer—even though the only people she'd ever killed were two people in Orochimaru's posse and Sasori, who didn't even count as a person. She spilled plenty of blood, though. She supposed coming out of a dark alley with it splattering her face could give her a bit of a reputation. Even when Sakura tried dying her hair black, it didn't work—even as she changed it back she heard that she'd been given a nickname. She almost felt flattered. She had her very own criminal reputation.

One morning at the base, Sakura had found herself lying on the ground, probably having slipped off her bed from tossing and turning. She turned her head and saw Itachi, who was sleeping. Without a doubt Itachi would wake the moment he sensed even a sliver of killing intent in the room—it was how the best ninja trained themselves to sleep. Since Sakura was not a threat, Itachi did not wake. He may as well have been dead but for the breath which moved a stray hair every time he exhaled.

Silently, Sakura poured some water into a basin and checked her reflection, combing her hair and frowning at the outbreak of pimples across her forehead.

Sakura may have been a wanted criminal and nuke-nin, but she was also a teenage girl.

That was why red flooded her cheeks when she heard a voice right behind her—"There is a jutsu to take care of long hair, you know."

Itachi _would _know something like that. Ignoring the fact that she hadn't noticed him waking up, Sakura muttered vapidly, "Is there really?"

"Certainly. I was unfortunately forced to witness it at least twenty times when I was following a princess for a mission a long time ago. Eventually, even without my sharingan, it became burned into my head."

So that was how he kept his hair so silky and smooth looking.

"I imagine it's a forbidden jutsu," Sakura smiled. Itachi chuckled, still right behind her, and placed a hand on her neck. Normally Sakura would have jumped up and hit anybody who touched her in such a vital place, but she managed to restrain herself as she felt a burst of chakra and her hair flew up and fluttered down.

She checked her reflection. Her hair was immaculate, silky, and altogether better than it had ever been before. Even the split ends had disappeared.

Sakura almost laughed. Out of a lot of S-ranked jutsu, this had to be one of the most impressive she'd seen.

"So I imagine you do this instead of brushing your own hair every single day," Sakura said wryly.

"Indeed. I may be an S-ranked criminal, but it doesn't mean I have to look entirely uncivilized."

Sakura thought of Sasuke's hair this silky and laughed, "I imagine you didn't teach this to Sasuke."

In the basin, Sakura saw a twinkle in Itachi's eye. "I don't intend to."

"Thank God."

"You called?" Pein asked, stepping into the room. Examining the position of the two—Itachi leaning over Sakura, hand on her neck, Sakura smiling—he added dryly, "Glad to know you are using your resting time well. I have another mission for you. I need a certain herb gathered—Haruno will probably recognize it—in the Hidden Poison Village. Not only will it help us, but also it is rather expensive and will fetch a good price according to Kakuzu. However, we don't know what awaits you in Doku, so Uchiha will be needed to fight any powerful enemies you may find. Additionally, it was the Uchiha clan that wiped out the this should be quite interesting to you. Haruno, report to Konan. She knows the name of the herb and where it is usually found. Uchiha…prepare."

"Yes, sir," Sakura and Itachi answered, Sakura brightly at being in her area of expertise and Itachi as monotone as ever.

After Pein left, Sakura made to find Konan, but Itachi stopped her for a second. "Sakura."

She sensed this was something important. Something _huge. _

"I'm going to fight Sasuke there. Wake him up a bit. I imagine he's gotten rather comfortable with Orochimaru—it's time to change that.

"How do you know he'll show?" Sakura asked as steadily as she could.

Itachi closed his eyes and smirked. "He will come." His expression hardened and he stared straight at her. "You will help arrange the fight…you will not interfere in it."

It wasn't a question or a request. Sakura turned away, gritted her teeth, and nodded. Then she left to get Konan and pack her things, knowing this mission was going to get a lot more complicated than it had to.

* * *

Sasuke hardly ever got mail, so when there was a crow carrying a package tapping at his window—he was currently at an inn, retrieving a scroll for Orochimaru—he was quite surprised.

His life had been fairly uneventful other than training. He'd been sent on a few missions with Tayuya, one of the nin sent to get him from Konoha, but they were all trivial. Orochimaru's justification was that since he was getting free board and training, he had to do his share for the village. As if he didn't already have enough lackeys. But Sasuke went with it, if only to occasionally get a whiff of news in the outside world. To make sure nobody had killed Itachi before he could. He'd heard scattered stories about a new Akatsuki member.

He went to open the window somewhat apprehensively. The crow flew in and plopped a piece of paper in Sasuke's hands. It sat on the nearest flat surface it could find—a chair in the corner of the room—and seemed to be waiting for something. He stared at it in astonishment, then unrolled the scroll, clenching his teeth at the very first line.

He finished it, crumpled the paper in disgust, and set it on fire.

_Dear Foolish Little Brother, _the letter had read…

_I suppose you'd like to know what I've been doing with my spare time, since you've so liberally taken some yourself. After all, you seem to have done nothing at all, and, judging by Haruno Sakura's evaluation, you haven't improved either. _

_Sakura really is quite the prize, isn't she? Silky locks of rose-colored hair—running one's fingers through it is enjoyable; the fit, trained but curvaceous body of a well-tuned machine of a kunoichi—and she certainly knows how to handle it; a mind as sharp as the kunai I ran along her chin when she came to me; a delectable mouth with shapely lips that allow her to speak and do…other things; her trained, calloused, medic's hands that I grip as I demonstrate shuriken techniques to her; and finally those lovely emerald green eyes. I could just stare into them for ages. _

_Yes, I have been enjoying my free time dearly. And so has she, judging by the smile her beautiful lips can form. _

_Wouldn't her blood taste so sweet? Watching it pour out of her body, straight from the heart where a kunai is lodged? Watching her lips part in her last gasp, watching the brilliant light in her eyes slowly…go…out? Perhaps I could hear her clear, lovely voice scream in pain for me as I force her to watch the image of her death on a loop for seventy-two hours before actually doing it._

_After all, a person is most beautiful after you've killed them. Just like Mother and Father were. Red always did look good on Mother. I wonder how you would look dead._

_Well, we will have a chance to find out—or rather I will, because you'll be dead—for I am telling you that I will be at the ruins of the Hidden Poison Village. Do you remember your history lessons? Our father, Uchiha Fugaku, was the very one to assassinate the leader. Of course it was kept quiet from the rest of the Leaf, but I'm sure it was let slip at least once to the other Uchiha. I'm sure you will be able to remember or find out where it is._

_You have two days to get here…Sasuke. After that I'm leaving…along with my _partner_, Sakura. Who knows how much longer she will satisfy me alive?_

_Love always,_

_Itachi. _

Sasuke grabbed an empty scroll, scribbled three words onto it, and gave it to the crow to fly back.

The words weren't _"I'll be there"," I'm not going", "Give me time" _or even _ "I'll kill you." _

The scroll read, in neat print,

_Fuck you, Itachi.

* * *

_**AN: Oh, Itachi. You're so evil. And such a good artist and writer, in my head at least. I imagine Itachi does a lot of writing in his spare time, since he had to be all refined!Uchiha for a good part of his life. And he WOULD rub everything in Sasuke's face.  
**

**-clears throat- anyway, sorry for the wait and short chapter. It's just...yeah. Sorry. A lot of crap to deal with. Midterms and stuff. Also writer's block, sort of. So it may be a while to the next update too. BUT! I'll probably upload a few oneshots which might be semi-funny, so read those if you don't have enough OS to satisfy you :)  
**

**As for those asking about pairings: I know what I posted the story as. Just look at the story summary. That's all I'll tell you. -shrug- **

**Thanks for all the reviews and everything! You guys are AWESOME!  
**


	24. Break

Sasuke leaped through trees with a speed he'd never achieved before. He knew where the Hidden Poison Village was, of course. Father had spoken about it once or twice, and when Sasuke asked why he'd eliminated it, Fugaku had shaken his head and said, "Resources."

It was true—Doku had a lot of natural resources like gold and stone. However, nobody wanted to go there because any berries on any bush were poisoned.

As the legend went, the founder of Doku had found the land unmarked and like a paradise. He decided to inhabit it along with his family. Naturally other villages wanted in, but the founder refused. Eventually villages started sneaking into the lands around and stealing resources, and Doku had no ninja to stop them. Angry that his land's financial value was being reduced, the man hired a specialist in plants to poison all the plants and only give the antidote to himself and those he held dear. So whenever workers entered the area mining gold and snatched a plump berry off the bushes and ate it, they would suddenly stop dead. It was the same with the water flowing in the streams. The Dokukage (as he wished to be known) and his followers could happily eat and not be affected, having the antidote.

However, the plant specialist who had come up with the antidote was assassinated—by Uchiha Fugaku on a mission for the Leaf, which wanted in on the copious resources. Since they no longer had someone to supply an antidote, the inhabitants of Doku died out from their own poison. Thus it was said that, in effect, Uchiha Fugaku wiped out the whole village.

Still, the Leaf had yet to come and claim the resources because there were urban myths of ghosts and poison gas in the air. After a time, the land had been given to the Uchiha Clan. There were now barriers around the border that only an Uchiha could break.

That was why Sasuke found it ironic that he'd only thought now to go and claim what was his. Because Itachi wasn't deserving of the name of Uchiha. The son of a bitch. What had he been writing in that letter? What was he doing to Sakura? Sasuke told himself it shouldn't matter. Sakura could become the Mizukage and he wouldn't care. Oh, who the hell was he kidding? He'd even lost someone who had been devoted to him to his brother. Sakura mattered. Maybe only because she was another thing he lost to Itachi. Maybe for another reason. Either way, she wouldn't get out of his dreams, either in a young or older form, either whimpering "Come back, Sasuke-kun" or turning her back on him and saying, "I don't need you any more." Either dream would leave him in a cold sweat, although they weren't nearly as bad as the usual nightmares.

He was going to _kill_ Itachi.

Sasuke knew he wasn't done training, but it didn't mean he wasn't stronger. He could at least deal some serious damage. He knew he could.

As Sasuke gritted his teeth and thought about what strategies he would use, he sensed a chakra signature. He halted quickly. His brother, here? Sasuke had not yet entered the village itself… why was he waiting for him here?

But it wasn't his brother.

"Sakura," he called grimly. "I know you're there. Come out from your hiding place."

Sakura stepped out from behind a rock, and it made Sasuke irrationally angry to see her in an Akatsuki cloak, her now long hair braided back, her gloves now a coal black with fingers cut out, fingernails painted. "It's been a while, Sasuke," she said, giving the hint of a smile.

…She'd grown in the space of year. Her face had finally thinned out a bit, baby fat totally absent. Her green eyes were longer and narrower, no longer wide and innocent. The Akatsuki cloak hid any curves, but Sasuke was almost certain she'd grown taller. "What do you want? I don't have time."

Her eyes grew hard. "Sasuke, don't fight Itachi. He's too strong for you. I don't know what he told you to convince you to interrupt your training for this, but… it's not worth it."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in response. "You would know, of course, since you're his _partner_ and all."

"Damnit, Sasuke, I'm sticking my neck out. I snuck away just so I could tell you this. You're not ready. Itachi is the strongest of Akatsuki, and if you couldn't even beat Deidara"— "that was a year ago," Sasuke protested—"You have no chance against him. Don't let your emotions rule you. Don't let him provoke you."

"You don't know what he's like," Sasuke hissed. "You don't know what he wants with you! He's just using you! Now get out of my way! Why the hell do you care what happens to me anyway?"

"Because—because—" For the first time, Sakura was at a loss for words. "You know what? If you think you can fight Itachi, prove it to me." Sakura crouched into a ready position. "Fight me, Sasuke. If you want to fight your brother, you'll have to get through me."

Sasuke allowed a smirk to grace his lips. "It won't be any different from the last time we sparred. If anything, the gap between our abilities has grown."

Instead of responding angrily, Sakura simply smiled angelically. "Are you sure about that?"

That smile was creepy as _fuck_.

Sasuke decided to push past her. He took off as fast as he could with Rock Lee's speed—

And went flying when Sakura stuck out her foot and tripped him. He went crashing into a tree. In a second she was on him, punching his stomach and winding him. He grabbed a smoke bomb from his holster and activated his sharingan as Sakura started coughing. He tackled her to the ground and held up his sword. "Don't get in my way, you annoyance," he hissed.

Avoiding his eyes, Sakura wriggled free of his pin and kicked him flat in the chest. He flew back. She caught him in the stomach again, and he coughed blood this time. Using the distraction, Sakura grabbed his shoulder and dislocated it. Sasuke hissed in pain and transferred his sword to his other hand, glad to be ambidextrous. He got a slash across her shoulder in before she'd jumped back, falling on the ground and driving her fist into the tree he was on. It splintered and all he could do was leap off, wincing in pain from his shoulder. He tried to remember how to force it back, but the pain was a little prominent.

He gritted his teeth and bent his elbow 90 degrees and twisted it a bit. There was excruciating pain for a moment or two, but the shoulder popped back into its joint. Sasuke reminded himself not to use the shoulder if possible. Then he realized Sakura was gone. He frowned for a second—before Sakura popped out of the ground and drove her fist up under his chin.

Sasuke growled, wiping blood from his lips, and decided it was time to end this. He made hand signs for a chidori, and lightning crackled around his fist. Sakura's eyes widened, then narrowed, and she gathered and concentrated chakra around her fist until it was sharp and glowing blue. A hit from either attack could undoubtedly kill.

Sasuke stood up with his chidori and looked at Sakura from across the clearing, saying with his eyes, _You really want to go?_

Sakura sneered and started running.

Sasuke followed suit.

In a matter of milliseconds they were close, close, only a few feet left, he could see the brilliant green in her eyes as the braid in her hair came undone and the flesh on both their cheeks rippled—

And then their fists were caught by gloved hands, the chakra dissipating in seconds.

"Hey, let's not fight," Kakashi said with a friendly grin, letting go of the wrists.

* * *

He was standing between the two as the smoke cleared, and both Sasuke and Sakura were breathing hard. "Sasuke, I already told you that jutsu is not to be used on teammates."

"Kakashi," Sasuke snarled, grabbing his wrist back and rubbing it. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just going to check up on my former students. I mean, I knew Sasuke gave himself to Orochimaru, but imagine my surprise when I found out that my other pupil was a member of Akatsuki! You know what they call you in the smaller villages around here? The Black Blossom. Because they think that's the color of your soul, contrasting sharply with your hair color and the blood splattering your face. I'm not even making this up. Naruto, the former dunce, is the most successful out of all of you!"

Sasuke snorted in derision. "Sure, if you call playing ninja serving old, fat lords and rescuing a woman's cat successful."

"Why are you here, Kakashi?" Sakura asked, her tone not betraying any emotion. "Where are your friends? Konoha ninja don't operate alone."

"Oh, I took a well-needed vacation from my duties. Tsunade wanted to make me Hokage, you know—her age is finally catching up to her! So of course I escaped from that with the excuse of finding the two of you."

Sasuke closed his eyes to calm himself. "Look, I don't have time for this. I have a criminal to kill."

"That's rich, coming from you," Sakura retorted.

"I haven't ever killed anyone! Judging by what I've heard on the way here, that's not the case for you! You're the only criminal here, Sakura!"

"Both of you have sunk so low," Kakashi mused. "It's no use trying to figure out who's still morally correct."

"Well I here was trying to save his ass, and what does he do? He blows me off!" Sakura told him, facing him and pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke.

"She's trying to interfere with my revenge!"

"You can't complete your revenge in the state you are, especially not now that we've sparred! You're weak, you let Itachi provoke you so easily!"

"You have no idea what he wrote in the letter he sent me!"

"Nothing should make you put your life on the line! The only thing he could've done is challenge something that you care for, and you care for nothing! What did he do, insult your pride?"

"Screw this!" Sasuke nearly screamed, and without warning grabbed a kunai and hurled it at Kakashi. Sakura did so at the same time.

Kakashi leaped aside. That was too well done to have been a coincidence—they must have been planning it all along. "You distracted me with your argument? How cleve"—then Sakura had rammed a fist into his stomach, inhuman speed making her impossible to track. Blood splattered her face.

"It's not polite to speak to others through a decoy," she said as the shadow clone poofed, "…Sensei." The real Kakashi stepped out from behind a boulder with a smirk.

"I'll ask once again before I go to kill a traitor. Is there anything important you wanted to tell us?" Sasuke's expression was once again impassive.

"Well, I had to knock Naruto out in order to stop him from coming after me, but you should know, Sakura, that your leaving absolutely destroyed him." Kakashi observed Sakura's expression as he said this, and thought he may have been imagining the look of agony that was quickly replaced with apathy. He continued, "Just wanted to hold you responsible for what you did. I won't tell him you're with the Akatsuki. But…" his eyes hardened. "If you attack Konoha, I won't cease to eliminate you, since you're Akatsuki and all."

"Why don't you start now?" Sakura taunted. "As you know, Akatsuki wants the Jinchuuriki. We will come for Naruto. It would be easier to get rid of me now…wouldn't it?" Sakura tilted her head.

Kakashi stared at his ex-student, who now stood with poise and turned her back to Sasuke rather than simpering at his. He knew the sight of Sakura in an Akatsuki cloak would be shocking, but the fact that it somehow fit her was even more disconcerting. He knew for a fact that he had the necessary power to disable at least one of them, but he wasn't sure he could deal with both. And with the explosive relationship between two, they were just as willing to work together against him as to kill each other.

"I don't want to kill you," Kakashi said, closing his eyes. It was a mistake. When he opened them, Sasuke was staring him in the eye and catching him in a genjutsu. Of course, it was nothing along the lines of Tsukuyomi and Kakashi broke out of it. However, it had had the desired effect, delaying him enough for Sakura to step over in a flash and tie him to a tree with ninja rope.

"Sound your distress signal," Sasuke said emotionlessly. "Konoha will come get you. You will say nothing about the encounter here."

And then Sasuke disappeared.

"HEY!" Sakura yelled. "What the—." She kicked the dirt. "Coward!"

She listened for a second. Then, to Kakashi's surprise she was right in front of him, undoing the ropes. She made eye contact with me. "You can't let Naruto know. Tell him I'm dead. Please. Tell them all… that there's no hope. They have to stop caring about me…have to stop coming after me." She turned around and clenched her fist. "Kakashi, I…"

"Sakura?" Kakashi murmured, walking over to her. One second she was derisive, fighting him and Sasuke, and now she seemed broken and remorseful. What the hell? Females…

"What's Ino doing?" she asked.

Kakashi was taken aback at the question, but answered: "She's training under Tsunade. Her clan jutsu aids in her medical jutsu so we understand a lot of illnesses much better now. She is also one of the top in taijutsu in her age group."

"And Naruto?" Sakura barely whispered.

"He…he devotes all his time to training, to get you and Sasuke back. He trains under Jiraiya and I, even Tsunade sometimes." He smiled. "He is fast becoming a fine ninja." His smile faded. "And you, Sakura? What's the meaning of this? Is it all to get Sasuke back? Didn't seem like it, with the way you were trying to kill him."

Sakura's hair hung over her face. "I want power to achieve my goal. I guess that makes me just as bad as Sasuke." She snorted. "Kakashi. This never happened. I really don't want to hurt anybody in Konoha, but I may end up being forced to do so. I'm sorry nobody in Konoha saw the potential in me. I just needed to be trained in a way the Leaf could never stand by." She looked away. "But…just between us…I'm working on keeping Sasuke sane. Discreetly. But I'm trying."

Kakashi felt overwhelmed. Sakura did everything out of ambition? And she still had passion for the village? Sasuke was consumed by revenge. Sakura had kept her head.

That meant she could become far more dangerous.

"Do you think I should be dead?" Sakura asked, tilting her head.

"Probably," Kakashi admitted. "But I won't do it." He sighed. "What happened to the good old days? When everything was okay?"

"Kakashi," Sakura said sadly. "I remember. You told me everything would go back to the way it was." Kakashi remembered the moment with self-disgust. She looked up at him. "I…I'm working toward that. Just in my way."

"Things won't be the way they were if you're dead!" Kakashi pointed out.

Sakura closed her eyes. "I won't be." She looked off into the distance. "I should go follow Sasuke before he reaches Itachi. Maybe I can still stop one of them from dying. Or maybe Itachi will blow him off." She turned her gaze to him. "Alright, Kakashi. There's only one way to end this without either of us looking like traitors."

"Yeah, I guess," Kakashi conceded.

"I'll do it on three. One…"

She punched him unconscious before she even said "two".

* * *

Sakura forced herself not to cry as she jumped the trees at top speed to reach Sasuke. She knew her way around, so she could take a shortcut to the village center, where Itachi would be waiting. The little reunion was over—she had to go back to being cold and heartless, and discourage Sasuke from trying to fight.

Even with the shortcut, she only arrived to the village center seconds before Sasuke. Sasuke gave her a glance, then shook his head angrily, ignoring her.

"Itachi, you traitorous, murderous bastard… I'm here. Show yourself," Sasuke snarled.

There was silence, and suddenly Sakura had a premonition that something awful was about to happen—

"Hello, Sasuke," Itachi said, walking about from behind a building. "And welcome back, Sakura."

Sakura gulped and started walking toward Itachi.

"So you're choosing him?" Sasuke asked dangerously, eyes narrowed.

For a split second, Sakura turned back. There was a sad smile on her face. "It's not a matter of choice, Sasuke." And then the sword entered her from the back, Itachi having thrown it with precision no other being on the planet had. Sakura fell to her knees, choking. Her eyes locked with Sasuke's as they darkened and she toppled forward onto the ground.

"No!" Sasuke yelled, half-screamed, forgetting everything, running forward, pulling the blade out and cradling Sakura in his arms, turning her over and looking at her deathly pale face as blood steadily trickled from her mouth. "Sakura!" Blood stained his shirt as he tried to put pressure on the wound, but it was no use.

Sakura's lips barely moved and Sasuke had to move closer to her to hear, bending over her mouth. "Sasuke…what am I to you?"

Sasuke's eyes felt like they were burning. He knew if he attempted to speak some strangled sound would come out, so instead he leaned down and pressed his forehead against hers, finally realizing exactly what he'd lost. She was dying, dead, and he still couldn't explain to her which she was to him… the teammate, the comrade, the enemy, the last thread to a normal life—

"Thank you," Sakura breathed against his cheek, and stiffened.

Sasuke let the tears blur his vision as he stood up shakily. He felt like a little kid again. He thought he'd known hate when Itachi killed his family, but when he killed his most precious person—because that's what Sakura had somehow, impossibly become—he wanted nothing more than to strike him down, humiliate him, and destroy everything he'd ever worked for.

"Well," Itachi said at last. "Isn't she beautiful? I told you. They're always the best when they're dead and can't open their annoying mouths. Just lie there, like a pretty geisha doll, stained in innards and blood and with hazy eyes… I suppose it was quite easy to discover your weakness before the fight even began."

* * *

**AN: -is stoned by readers-  
**

**OMG! OS'S Troll level is over 9,000!**

**Uh, yeah. Review?**


	25. Diplomacy Fail

**AN: Still OblateSpheroid, just different penname. Sorry for any confusion! Uh, so I don't even know how to apologize for the nice little two-month wait this took. Uh…it won't happen again, not without prior notice. To help this, I've created a livejournal where you can talk to me and I'll post up segments and ideas, so you won't have to wait as long! You can also give me critique on stuff before I post it here, which would be appreciated wince I'm happily un-betaed. See the link in my profile. I hope to see you there—friend me!**

* * *

Itachi looked slightly less confident when Sasuke glared up at him with bloodshot eyes. Because they weren't just bloodshot. They were gleaming—

With the mangekyo sharingan.

"Your most precious person?" Itachi said, bemused. "The mangekyo only appears when you are responsible for the death of your best friend or someone else close to you. You believe yourself to be responsible for her death and you weren't nearly as apathetic to her as you would have liked."

"You son of a bitch," Sasuke hissed. "I'll fucking kill you!"

"Wait, wait. First we have to get rid of the body—otherwise Konoha might find a trace of me on her and find the Akatsuki base, and that wouldn't be good, now would it?" Itachi smirked cruelly as he started up a fireball—

Sasuke grabbed Sakura, no, not Sakura, the corpse that she had once inhabited—and leaped far away with it, laying it down behind him.

"You haven't gotten anywhere, even training under Orochimaru," Itachi snorted. "You think agreeing to be his vessel will gain you anything? He is weak, Sasuke. Don't you want to defeat me with your own power?"

"You need to be dead," Sasuke said, hair falling over his eyes. "You have to die, it doesn't matter how, _you need to die_—" he raised his head and used his mangekyou sharingan. He could see more clearly, but he had no idea what he could do with it besides Tsukuyomi—well, he'd have to use that then…

But Itachi was there first, right in front of him, drawing a kunai across his chin. "What ever shall I do with you now, Sasuke? If even the Mangekyou doesn't make you strong enough to kill me…maybe nothing will. Maybe you should just give up, spend your days in exile, rotting away, grieving over Sakura…and everybody else whose pain and death you caused."

Sasuke looked at the ground—

And frowned.

"That rock…it isn't the type that exists in the Poison Village. It only exists in Konoha and near volcanoes. I read up and this is igneous rock, which would be impossible to find here." He slowly looked up, and noticed a shimmer in the air near Itachi.

The answer hit him like a herd of elephants.

Genjutsu. It was a _fucking_ genjutsu! "Kai!" he snarled and, sure enough, Sakura was still there standing next to him as they emerged into the clearing and Itachi was standing before them. Sasuke collapsed from the strain of the jutsu, from the relief of seeing Sakura alive, and from anger at not having seen through the ploy. He heaved and retched a little on the ground. Sakura looked confused.

"What…? Oh. You ate a Tsukuyomi. I see." She switched her gaze to Itachi, who looked smug but had blood trickling from one of his eyes. Sasuke tried his sharingan, but it was regular, not mangekyou. Sakura wasn't dead. Sakura _wasn't dead_.

God, he'd overreacted, hadn't he?

"Sakura," he said.

Sakura looked surprised at his addressing her.

"Itachi plans to kill you. Get out of here, don't make contact with him again."

"And how would you know that?" Sakura asked, not even cocking an eye at Itachi. That irrational trust…it irked him. "Where's the motive?"

"Itachi murdered my whole clan. He doesn't need motive. Get out of here!"

Sakura snorted. "You obviously don't give a shit about me, so you're telling me this to keep me out of the way, not because you're trying to protect me. So no. I am… disinclined to acquiesce to your request."

Sasuke opened his mouth to protest, but Itachi cut in: "So, Sasuke, how long have you been away from Orochimaru's drugs?"

"What drugs?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura answered for him. "The steroids and other medication Kabuto slips into your food and injects you with when he thinks you're unconscious. Surely you've noticed."

"They're just chakra-building pills."

"That they are, but you know what else they cause?" Sakura asked, crossing her arms skeptically. "Withdrawal symptoms. They're addicting—Orochimaru made sure that we'd be tied to him. After a time, I've figured out how to counteract them, but you must notice you're getting weaker if you've been gone for about a week."

"It's just a bit of dizziness," Sasuke said through gritted teeth. "I can handle it. Will you get out of the way now?"

"Just dizziness now, but Orochimaru didn't want his secrets going out. It will eventually kill you—should take about a week and a half, as long as you don't use the curse seal—unless Kabuto gives you his cool-down drug. Or unless I help you. Which I won't do if you start killing my Akatsuki partner, because I really don't want to be re-partnered with like…Kisame or whatever."

"Haruno," Itachi said somewhat sternly.

Sakura slowly turned her back to look at Sasuke's brother.

"Sasuke does not learn by talking. He will only realize he has no chance once I fight him. If you please, it would be much easier if you stepped aside."

Sakura looked at him for a while, then obliged, sinking behind an old, run-down building.

Sasuke yelled furiously, "Why do you listen to him and not me? What the hell does he have that I don't?"

Sakura stuck her head out and answered with a smirk, "Manners."

The next thing she knew, Sasuke had fired a fireball at Itachi and they were in the middle of intense taijutsu. Sakura kept an eye on the battle, noting who was doing what, until she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Slowly, she turned her head, wondering who could have snuck up on her like that.

"Hi there," Kakashi said with his crinkled-eye smile.

Sakura pulled a kunai. "Kakashi, what the hell? I gave you an easy way out!"

"I didn't take it," Kakashi said simply. "I'm done letting my students get away from me. If I prove to you I'm stronger than you, will you let me train you?"

"Itachi is stronger than you," Sakura hissed. "I don't need your training." She formed hand seals, concentrating chakra at her arms, intending to drive it through Kakashi's chest to knock him out.

Kakashi blocked and the next thing she knew he was nowhere in sight. Sakura looked around wildly, then scowled. Of course—he was below. She threw her fist down and cracked the earth with the combined chakra stored up in her nails and that she had to spare. Kakashi was actually thrown back. Sakura smirked—he thought he was out of the blast radius based on the way she used to punch, but she punched harder now. Her chakra control was finer.

Itachi and Sasuke seemed to be exchanging fireballs, and the air was getting smoky, giving Kakashi a chance to get away. At least his nose wouldn't work to sniff her out—unless he wanted lung cancer he wouldn't inhale too deeply.

Then he came out from under her feet and caught her chin with an uppercut. Sakura flew back into the building she'd been hiding behind.

"Lesson number one," Kakashi said calmly. "Taijutsu. You think your chakra-enhanced strength substitutes for the speed and technique that makes a true taijutsu expert? It doesn't." Just to prove it, he ended up next to her as she scrambled to get up and swept her feet out from under her. "You only have one move—a punch. If I get in a position such that you can't hit me, the only thing you have left is to punch something near me, which I can avoid."

Sakura growled at being chastised like that, and tried to get away only to notice Kakashi had her in a lock. Classic, first-academy-year lock, with her arm behind her back in a way such that if she moved her arm would be broken. Fuck.

"I was teaching you wrong the whole time," Kakashi continued. "I used physical force on Sasuke and Naruto, but I never did it for you because I didn't think you could handle it. I guess the fact that you went to Orochimaru, who I hear is very…_physical_… means that I shouldn't have treated you differently."

"Don't get yourself down; everybody in that village thought I was worthless," Sakura responded with a curled lip. "But even you noticed I have superior chakra control. And guess what I've learned to use it for?" she sent the chakra to the arm that was being held, and then braced herself, knowing this was going to hurt. She essentially burned her chakra coils and caused her arm to expel a blast of chakra, forcing Kakashi away so she could run. She cradled her arm, knowing that trick cost her a few punches. Good thing it was her left arm.

"That chakra control is characteristic only of Hyuuga. I wonder who could have taught you something like that," Kakashi nodded, discreetly rubbing his own arm which had been burnt by Sakura's chakra attack. "Have you learned shape manipulation yet? Your elemental affinity? I'm sure that rasengan at the base wasn't real."

"I've learned both from Itachi, but I don't intend to use it on the likes of you," Sakura shot back, then ran at him. Kakashi disappeared in a whirl of leaves—but Sakura saw right through it and leaped to the area where he actually was—the roof of the building.

"Let me guess," she sneered. "Lesson two: genjutsu? I think at this point I can teach you more than you me!"

"You certainly didn't have this arrogance when you were in Konoha. That, I assume you picked up from Orochimaru." Kakashi did look vaguely impressed, though.

"Arrogance comes with power!" countered Sakura, and proceeded to engage Kakashi in hand-to-hand combat, attempting to throw him off the roof in the middle of the ongoing battle between Sasuke and Itachi. At this point, it appeared that the brothers were engaged in genjutsu: Sasuke was pressed against the wall of another building—by the throat. Kakashi followed her gaze; Sakura used the distraction to send a bit of chakra into her palms and push Kakashi off the roof. If he landed the wrong way, he could break a few limbs, but Sakura jumped down and, in midair, gave him a kick that sent him flying straight into Itachi. Oops.

There was dead silence as Sasuke slid to the ground, choking, Itachi's jutsu obviously having broken from surprise, with Kakashi laying there in between the two brothers, and Sakura across the street.

"Hatake Kakashi," Itachi said quietly, as though he weren't bleeding profusely from one eye. Sakura finally made the connection: they both had the same ANBU tattoo. Kakashi and Itachi may have even worked together on a mission or two. Now they were set against each other.

"How do you do," Kakashi said casually, very much avoiding eye contact.

"What the fuck…?" groaned Sasuke from the ground.

They all turned to Sakura, who gave a little wave and awkwardly stuttered, "Uh. Sorry. About the no-interfering thing. Yeah."

More silence.

Sasuke broke the silence by chidori-ing Itachi through the back. Itachi, who was a clone, exploded. Sasuke was sent back into the wall.

Kakashi caught Sasuke before his back could break against the hard wood. Sakura jumped over to where Itachi's knees had the faintest tremble.

Itachi coughed blood.

"Your illness!" Sakura gasped. She'd been working on medications, but Itachi never allowed her an actual examination so it was difficult to diagnose exactly what the problem was—was it related to the sharingan?

"It is fine," Itachi rasped. He straightened, looked at Kakashi, who was supporting Sasuke. Sasuke seemed to realize this, and pushed Kakashi away.

"I don't need your help!" he snarled. "Damnit! Sakura, step aside already! He needs to be dead…he's my kill!"

Sakura let out a humorless laugh. "Your kill? Your kill? That's actually hilarious. As if you could hold a candle to Itachi. As if I would let you try."

* * *

Neji lightly felt his way down the steps of Tenten's flat. The Hyuuga clan was in the midst of civil war; in his current state he would do no good stopping the fighting. His plight had helped initiate the battle, nothing more. His part was done now.

He'd never bothered with Tenten in the beginning. Her 100 percent accuracy was interesting, but he'd always thought that he could easily outdo her if he tried. As they grew as a team, he'd taken solace in the fact that there was one other person on Team Gai who wasn't clinically insane.

When he'd been sitting in the hospital recovering from near-death and she'd kissed him, he'd started to think maybe there was something to her.

Were teams designed such that one male was meant to end up with a female? He thought not. They were supposed to be balanced out in ability—team dynamics were meant to be built up no matter what. After all, Naruto had been placed with Sasuke. The assembly of their team made sense, in the end: Gai, the only sensei who could truly believe in the similarly enthusiastic Lee; Tenten, a weapons' mistress who lacked skill in other areas, and Neji, who, strictly speaking, was the genius of his year and tied with Uchiha Sasuke's scores when he reached his age. Of course, now that there was another person on Team Gai, Takeshi, who was quite adept at genjutsu: the dynamics were different. Gai was much more professional and occasionally shut down completely at the loss of Lee, muttering about how he could never be replaced. Still, he did his best to be civil to Takeshi, and Neji and TenTen followed his example.

Having the precise chakra control of the Hyuuga and an increasingly large chakra reserve from frequent meditation, Neji was learning to see by expelling his chakra around him then having it bump back. It would be very obvious to any sensing-type ninja, but civilians didn't notice and it kept him from bumping into objects. Most ninja who lost their eyesight quit, especially if their eyes largely defined their fighting style. But Neji refused to quit. Why?

Naruto.

Naruto had shown him, a long time ago, that giving up gets one nowhere. Neji had met this with skepticism—giving up was better than getting killed, right? But Neji looked at the life he would live as a blind man, rotting away, slowly dying without ever meaning anything, and vehemently refused it. He would continue as a ninja until he no longer could. Blindness was not an excuse.

Okay, so it wasn't just Naruto. Maybe it was the idea of not leaving…his teammates. The memory of Lee and Gai. And, yes, TenTen. He couldn't let her get herself killed; it was always his job to cover her weak spots.

And yet here he was, living at her house, off her food, until the Hyuuga rebellion died down.

He would have to insist she spend some time living at the Hyuuga compound, just to make up for this time here. It was only fair, of course. If he got to see her a bit more often, nobody would be any the wiser.

* * *

"Sakura," Itachi said suddenly. "Have you collected all the herbs?"

"Yeah," Sakura said, rubbing the arm where she'd burned her coils. "They're in my pouch."

"It's time for us to leave."

Sakura almost looked like she was going to protest, looking at Sasuke and Kakashi, but she hung her head, the fight drained out. "Yeah. Logically, it is. Pain will be impatient."

Itachi glanced at Sasuke, looking down at him like he wasn't even worth his notice. "It looks like you really have been standing still this whole time, brother. Why don't you let Kakashi-san take care of you like the child you are?"

And then Kurasu swept down from the sky, swept up Sakura and Itachi, starting to fly away at a lazy pace.

"Like fuck!" yelled Sasuke, and in a split second he'd gone second-form and was using his wings to try to fly after Kurasu. It was pretty useless since his wings weren't that powerful, but he managed to channel the chidori in his hand into a sword and sent out a long beam toward Kurasu. Kurasu had to slow to avoid it, swerving so Sakura lost her balance. Itachi was forced to grab her wrist to pull her back on, but Sasuke saw the weakness there and aimed the chidori sword right into Itachi's exposed hand. If he didn't have a hand, he couldn't form seals, right?

It worked like a charm. Itachi's hand was severed, since he couldn't move it when it was clamped around Sakura's wrist. Consequentially, Sakura had nothing to hold on to—and she was falling from 150 feet.

Sasuke spared her a glance, but his bloodlust was too much. Itachi was handless. He couldn't use any jutsu unrelated to sharingan or hold on to the bird. Now was his chance!

He shot a katon at the bird, figuring that would be it. No way to avoid the attack without hand seals.

But a second later, Itachi wasn't dead. Instead his fire was being pushed back by a crazy black fire. Damnit! The fire was eating through fire itself! Sasuke tried to buy himself time, but the fire was rapidly approaching. He had time only for a few handseals before the fire engulfed him, but it was just in time.

High in the air, a log was incinerated into dust while Sasuke jumped through the trees underneath, keeping up with the bird, which had a bit of one wing singed off. Substitutions really were something. Itachi was looking around, but he was gripping an eye, clearly unable to focus.

_Hahah_, Sasuke thought. _Recoil. Serves you right, bastard—_

That was until his curse seal burned madly and he tripped, falling ungracefully and painfully to the forest floor. The sprained ankle was nothing compared to the agony shooting through his shoulder.

Damnit. Orochimaru's drugs were taking a toll. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe, just lie there curled up in a ball, cursing his weakness.

* * *

When Sakura was falling, Kakashi had noticed and jumped into action, repressing his shock at Sasuke's actions. Bracing himself, he jumped up and intercepted Sakura before she could hit the ground. She was covered in blood, he noticed, but it wasn't hers. She still held Itachi's severed hand.

Kakashi had seen worse things in his career as a ninja, but the idea would still probably be a bit squicky to most.

"Kakashi," she gasped. "I'm not dead."

"I noticed."

"Sasuke. That bastard."

"Yeah."

In a split second Sakura shook her head to clear her mind, and she knelt over the gruesome hand, blood from it spilling onto the ground. She placed her hands on it and seemed to be working on a jutsu, with no visible effects.

"At least it was a clean cut," she muttered. "It'll be alright if I can get the temperature down enough to preserve it, then reattach it."

"You're going to actually help Itachi?" Kakashi asked. "He's dangerous. It would be better to let it go. I know you're really on our side, deep down, so why not take out an enemy?"

"Kakashi, I don't want to hurt you or Konoha. That doesn't mean I'm on your side. If I honestly thought Itachi was pure evil, I wouldn't be doing this." With a bloodied hand, she pushed hair out of her face. "There's something about Itachi. The circumstances of the massacre. It doesn't make any sense. At any rate, I don't think he would take out Konoha. He could have done that already. And I don't think he would take out Sasuke. So I have nothing to lose, and I could gain favor so that I can get deeper into Akatsuki secrets."

Kakashi contemplated this. He commented, "You know, you're in a very vulnerable position like this."

Sakura's eyebrows shot up.

"Right now, I could definitely knock you out and haul you back to Konoha."

"But you won't," Sakura said confidently.

"Why?"

"Because I'm in Akatsuki and I'll try to keep them away from Naruto. They're collecting tailed beasts, Kakashi. I can play spy. I can't get you information, but I can, if it so pleases me, sabotage them from the inside while I gain power. Neither you nor Tsunade-sama can pass up an opportunity like that." Cradling the now stiff hand, she stood. "Tsunade will know how to fix your arm. All I did was burn the coils a bit so you'll have trouble molding chakra for a while."

Kakashi chuckled. "This is not how I thought things would turn out when I took the three of you under my wing."

A hint of a smile. "I don't think any of us could have foreseen this. But I guess it's not all that bad, is it?" She widened the smile and called back to Kakashi, "Thing will go back to how they were! Everything will be all right!" She turned to the sky, seeing Kurasu in a controlled spiral downwards in the distance, in the forests beyond the town. "Remember, don't eat the fruit here. It's not the poison village for nothing." She started away, then turned back one last time. "And sensei? Thanks." With that, she started running to the scene half a kilometer away.

Kakashi shook his head in wonder. One second she was punching him, spouting nonsense about getting stronger, then she was using his lines about going back to normal, and then she was thanking him? Couldn't Haruno Sakura just make up her mind?

* * *

**OMAKE:**

**"Sasuke: What the hell does Itachi have that I don't? D8**

**Sakura: A bigger penis.**

**Sasuke:…wut."**

**Again, check out my livejournal! :D I'm not leaving this site though. I love it too much. Don't worry.**

**I really love reading your reviews. Please continue sending them! They make me feel warm and fuzzy inside, and more inclined to write fluff. Which has no place in this story. Yet. **

**SaccharineGray, signing out!  
**


	26. Passion

Sakura was guided by Sasuke's screams of agony. She finally found him at the base of a tree, curled up, holding his curse seal. Idiot. Using it when he was already suffering from withdrawal…without a thought, she knelt by him to press a hand to his forehead. He was burning up. Automatically, she started healing him.

He lashed out suddenly, his palm backhanding her across the face. "Don't touch me," he hissed. "It hurts."

"Yeah? Well on the bright side, it will stop hurting if you're dead," Sakura countered, healing her bruise quickly and moving to hold Sasuke down with one hand, heal him with the other. Sasuke shook beneath her hand. "You have to make the curse marks go away," she said, noting they had retreated to half his body.

"I just tried to kill you," he said, obviously ignoring her. "So what the fuck are you doing here? Itachi can't do anything without a hand."

"I can reattach Itachi's hand, but you're going to die if you don't take"—she rummaged in her pack—"these."

"Why should I trust whatever pills you're going to give me?"

"The alternative is death, idiot!" She growled. "These will flush your system. Take one a day for a week and it will flush your system of the drugs and steroids. You won't be attached to Orochimaru anymore." Her eyes burned into him. "Do you understand? He won't have _control _over you anymore. Isn't that what you want? To _not_ be his puppet?" Angry, she accidentally nudged his ankle and he let out a hiss of pain. Sakura looked down and, exasperated, started healing it.

"Why are you helping me?" Sasuke rasped.

Sakura didn't answer for about five minutes and Sasuke thought she'd gone deaf until she said, "Sasuke, this is going to sound strange, but it's pretty obvious that our fates are intertwined. We're going to keep bumping into each other time and time again. Maybe you hate me, maybe you don't, but until one of us dies we'll have to deal with each other. And I don't want to see you dead, not after everything Team 7 went through, not after everything you still owe me."

"I don't owe you anything," Sasuke snorted. "I don't want any of this, so you can't just put me in your debt like that!"

"Suuure I can't," said Sakura. "Well, your ankle is healed. Take the damn pills if you want to be free. One a day, no more." She stood, dusting herself off and running a bloody hand through her even dirtier hair. "Guess I'll see you around, Sasuke." Then she left him there, sitting against a tree in agony, staring at the items she'd left for him in bewilderment.

Once he was sure she was gone, Sasuke reached over and took a pill.

* * *

Itachi had landed about a kilometer away, his illness having gotten the better of him for a time. Sasuke wasn't ready for the final fight. Losing his hand was an…unexpected complication, but Itachi couldn't bring himself to worry. Some intuition told him to stay still and help would come. Help from whom, though? Haruno had fallen too far to still be alive, unless somebody had caught her, which only an immensely skilled ninja could do at that height, speed and weight.

He raised the stub where his arm used to be, examining the first real injury he'd gotten in quite a while.

Sasuke hadn't been standing still, but he had to improve faster. Otherwise the illness would take him first.

If Haruno were alive, she would question him a lot about his exact motives, so it was probably for the best that she was dead. If he could go back and search for the hand, perhaps he would be able to ask Kakuzu for some help, but at the moment he wasn't feeling up to such a walk. There was still the possibility of Sasuke coming after him—why had he stopped, anyway?

Itachi stroked a wounded Kurasu's feathered back and whispered out, "I'm sorry you were hurt. Go back if you please. I can find my way back on my own."

Kurasu grumbled back, "No way, Ita-chan. I finally get to see some action in my long life. I'll protect you until help comes, then I'll go get my wing repaired."

Five minutes later there was a rustling noise in the trees. Itachi grabbed a kunai from his pouch at lightning speed and threw it blindly at the noise.

There was a _clank _as it was deflected and Haruno walked into the clearing, covered in blood but looking fairly healthy. "There you are," she groused. "Stupid masking your chakra signature. What if I didn't find you? The longer we wait the less the chance of a successful reattachment!"

"A successful…?" Itachi wondered.

Haruno reached into her pouch and pulled out…his hand. Well, that was gruesome, but he wasn't complaining. "You held onto it?"

"Yes, and I lowered the temperature so that it's been preserved well enough. Okay, this will be painful. Some may call it excruciating, but hell, you're Uchiha Itachi, you can deal with a bit of a sting. Lay down and put out your arm." Haruno rolled out some plastic and Itachi did as she ordered with difficulty, his joints stiff from the sharingan recoil.

When, without warning, Haruno touched the stub and pain shot through his arm, Itachi swore and had a hard time not throwing her off. But Haruno apologetically continued, admitting, "I don't have any painkillers on me, though those should be standards for this operation. I need you to relax, though. The more you relax the easier this will be, so it'll not take as much time."

After a while more, she said, "I'm going to put a bit of wood in your mouth so you don't bite your tongue off. I'm numbing the area as best I can, but this is still going to hurt." Itachi felt his chapped lips gently moved apart, and a bit of wood forced in between his teeth. He'd been through worse pain, he reasoned. He forced himself not to look down at the hand. "Okay! Uh, medical procedure says I should could down from five and do it on one. So…five…four…three…"

Itachi damn near bit THROUGH the wood as she did something that sent shocks of pain through his whole body, three seconds before she said she would. The word _bitch _came to mind—usually Itachi wasn't one for profanities, but this one applied.

Of course in hindsight it made sense—he'd be more relaxed that way—but still, Itachi didn't appreciate being tricked.

It took about five more minutes of random poking and twitching until Haruno removed the wood from his mouth. Her hands were slippery with blood, and she dried them on the nearest tree. "Right then," Haruno said almost cheerfully. "You're blood type AB, did you know that? Just like Sasuke."

Itachi ignored her and looked down at his hand. It was heavily bandaged, but it all seemed to be in one piece.

"One more test," said the medic. She pulled out a senbon and poked each finger with it. When Itachi winced, she seemed satisfied. "Don't try and move that hand for at least a day. I've done some good work, but you don't just lose a hand and gain it right back. Try not to break this wrist; it will be debilitating."

She moved in a professional matter, helping Itachi off the plastic.

"Where's Sasuke?" Itachi bit out.

"He's long gone by now, I hope," Haruno said—then seemed to catch herself. "That is, I uh, couldn't catch him."

But now Itachi was too interested. "You once had feelings for him. That much is clear from the way you've reacted to every genjutsu I've thrown at you. Does this affection remain? Are you going to jeopardize my plans?"

Haruno stilled, then relaxed and started going through his bag, clearly looking for his medicine, which she had been modifying lately. "It would be very irresponsible of me to love somebody who has hurt me so many times. Relax, Uchiha-san. I'm very professional. I got out of your way when you told me to."

"But you care about him—otherwise, you would not have tried to stop the fight. Usually you do not interfere with my kills."

The girl groaned in frustration. "Look, we were on a genin team. I know he's a traitor, but with all due respect so are you, and you'll forgive me if I don't want to stand by watching two teammates of mine tear each other apart." She was clearly thinking of another time, another situation.

This girl had more to her than he'd originally thought. She was not simply a wounded, angry girl looking for power for revenge.

"Don't you hate me, then?" Itachi asked quietly. "For ruining Sasuke's life?"

Haruno looked down, then up again. Her shrug was forced. "Yeah. Yeah, I do." He barely heard what he probably wasn't meant to hear—"And I'm gonna fix it."

* * *

Winter came.

Cherry trees did not bloom in the winter.

Hidan and Kakuzu came back claiming they'd killed Asuma. Nobody noticed the subtlest clenching of Sakura's fists.

If Itachi noticed when she started going out at night and coming back reeking of alcohol, he didn't say anything.

When word came that Hidan and Kakuzu had been killed by Shikamaru's team, nobody noticed Sakura's subtlest smile. She had been close to neither Hidan nor Kakuzu, having had maybe one conversation with Kakuzu about reattachment of limbs and one conversation with Hidan about religion. Neither had warranted any more speech. They were the perfect team for each other, and the perfect team to take down together. She wasn't sorry they were gone, in the end.

Two fewer people she'd have to deal with when the time came.

When word came that Jiraiya was dead, Sakura noticed that Itachi, while painting to pass the time, used a heavy red stroke and accidentally knocked over the cup of paint. Sakura looked away and pretended not to notice.

When word came that Tsunade stepped down from the post of Hokage, Itachi pretended not to notice that Sakura drank so hard that night that she was vomiting throughout the whole next day and could barely form hand seals.

By the time word came that Kakashi had reluctantly replaced Tsunade as Hokage, Itachi had a coughing fit such that his airways were cut off for several minutes and Sakura had to perform CPR just to keep him alive. She doubled the strength of his medicine after that.

As the money she usually spent on food started getting spent on alcohol, Sakura grew thinner.

Living in Orochimaru's lair, Sasuke didn't have much of an idea of what was going on in the outside world. Orochimaru didn't send him on missions anymore. His steroids and drugs had been doubled by Kabuto and the longest Sasuke could stay away from base was four days, just enough to keep himself sane.

He learned jutsu after jutsu, made a pact to summon Manda, but he still felt like he wasn't improving a bit.

Sakura wouldn't get out of his head, and when he took sleeping pills she remained in his dreams, just standing there.

Konoha made another attempt to retrieve him, and during the short fight he learned that Kakashi had been made Hokage.

He took out Sai and Kohaku like they were nothing and Orochimaru took on Naruto.

Their base was destroyed, but it was time to move on to another one anyway.

* * *

The moment Sasuke walked into the bar in a nearby village to escape the snowy air outside, he knew Sakura was there, and he knew she was drunk.

She hadn't even bothered changing her hair. She'd probably be safer that way anyway—nobody would bother annoying her with her reputation.

Except Sasuke.

Hardly knowing what he was doing, he plopped down in the seat next to her and asked the bartender for a random drink off the menu. Sakura was bent over her own drink, hair hanging over it. She could have been asleep if not for the fact that every thirty seconds she raised the glass to drink from it. After a few minutes, she seemed to realize he was there. He expected a punch. Expected her to try to walk away. Didn't expect her to give him a stare that was almost challenging.

After a few more minutes of this awkward eye contact, Sakura spoke, slow and slurred.

"Watcha doin' here?"

"Same as you, probably," Sasuke replied, taking the drink the bartender proffered. "Drowning my sorrows in alcohol."

Sakura took a while to respond. "I haven't got any sorrows. I'm Sakura fuckin' Haruno." Sasuke's mouth twisted at the crude language flowing so freely from her lips. Damn, she actually was drunk. "I'm in Akatsuki. I've got enough money. I'm strong enough to beat most people with a finger. And I'm freakin' hot." She laughed bitterly, downing the rest of the drink.

"How many of those have you had?" Sasuke wondered.

"Fuck knows." Sakura reached over suddenly and tried to steal his drink.

"No you don't," Sasuke growled, and snatched it back, taking a long drought.

"Wait a second." Sakura frowned suddenly. "You're Sasuke, aren't you."

"Are you actually just realizing that?" Sasuke felt like teasing Sakura was waking him up from the longest sleep of apathy under years of Orochimaru.

"I'm supposed to like…be pretending to hate you. Mneh. Whatever, I dun wanna lie. Good to see ya."

"And why would you be pretending to hate me?" Sasuke queried, interested in a loose-lipped Sakura.

"'cause. Then I can tell myself I don't needa bother with you. I lie to myself. Heheh." She drained the next drink the bartender had wordlessly given her. "Not cool being partnered with Itachi. Bastard looks too much like you."

With the drinks he was consuming, Sasuke figured he was getting a little drunk too, because he was focusing way too much on her lips. Her lips should not have been that red. Her green eyes so lidded. Her cheeks flushed. What the hell was he doing? "Do you do this a lot?" he asked.

"I don't have _that _much money. When I start drinking, I don't stop till I've passed out." She let her head fall to the table momentarily. "Even I know that." Sakura grabbed two small packets from her purse. "Want some sugar in that?"

"In _alcohol?_" Sasuke asked incredulously. "In these drinks?"

"Tastes better than you'd think. Adds to the buzz." Sakura poured one packet into her glass and offered the other to Sasuke. Sasuke shrugged and put some in her own. Why the hell not? He took a drink and didn't notice much of a difference. Whatever. Then again, Sakura was so drunk it probably didn't matter what the drink tasted like.

"You far from the base?" Sasuke asked casually. "Where's Itachi?" maybe, if Itachi was just as inebriated as she, he could sneak in and kill him…

"'Tachi's back at base. It's a long way away. I'm coming back from a solo mission. Collecting really potent aphrodisiacs from the land of Tea. Why Leader-sama wants _those_, I don't wanna know." She snorted. "Though seriously, an organization full of men and one other woman, I shouldn't be surprised. I thought he and Konan were too close from the beginning."

Something occurred to Sasuke as he downed another glass. "Sakura, where are these aphrodisiacs right now?"

"In my pouch," Sakura answered. She straightened a bit.

Sasuke picked up the torn sugar packets on the bar. "Sakura, these aphrodisiacs wouldn't happen to have been in red packets with the logo from the land of tea on them?"

"Yeah. They would." Sakura yawned. "Now that I think about it, I ran out of sugar yesterday with the tea that I was having. Akatsuki's tea is freakin' epic."

"Sakura!" Sasuke growled. "Are you telling me we've just ingested these 'potent aphrodisiacs'?"

Sakura blinked. "Oh. Yeah. Prolly. That makes a lot more sense." She frowned. "You're not nearly drunk enough, you know. Just like you to not be affected by alcohol. Asshole. Stupid perfect Sasuke."

"What the hell are you blabbering on about? And how do we get the aphrodisiacs out of our systems?"

Sakura stood up shakily and poked him in the chest. "You, Sasuke. You're a problem. Always there being so damn perfect, except when you're not. You're a dick, you know. I've saved you from death so many times and what do I get? You dropping me from 150 feet. I mean, I'm supposed to be over it now, right? I'm a powerful, renowned kunoichi." She poked him again, harder. "But noooo. You come and ruin my composure and turn me back into a simpering little girl who can't get over a crush. For fuck's sake, why don't you go harass someone else with your existence?"

Sasuke was rather speechless, his mouth hanging open. "Uh…"

"Stupid, sexy Sasuke," she was saying, leaning closer so he could smell the alcohol on her breath. Her chest heaved with each breath, and her cloak had come unbuttoned in some places. Her lips were blood red, eyes mere slits, cheeks stained pinker than her hair as she got so close that her hair was tickling his nose.

"Fuck, you're drunk," Sasuke gasped out, not realizing he too was breathing hard.

"Maybe I am," Sakura whispered huskily, and the next second—what the fuck—her lips were on his and she was pushing him back against the bar and he opened his mouth to object except her tongue was wrestling his into submission. His arms felt like jelly as he tried to push her off and it didn't work. After approximately a minute, she came up for air, and spat, "Serves you fucking right," before diving in again.

A second later, she seemed to realize what she was doing, and pushed Sasuke _away_ and stormed out of the bar. Sasuke stood there for a moment before following her and slamming her against the cold wall of the building. He leaned in next to her ear. "You're not much better, you know," he whispered. "Showing up at Orochimaru's base pretending you felt nothing for me after all that time…you gave yourself to me before, you're _not _allowed to take it back. Leaving so soon afterwards, teaming up with my fucking brother of all people, not giving me a clear reason…getting in my way." He nipped her ear. "You're annoying." Nibbled on her lower lip. "And a fucking _tease_." Then he forced his lips on hers, and her arm came around to grasp the spikes at the back at his hand, pulling at them, while Sasuke's arms rested on the wall on either side of her head.

They were locked in that position, wrestling tongues, until Sasuke was unfairly distracted by Sakura's hands grabbing his ass.

Oh, it was _on. _He was _not _going to lose.

* * *

Sasuke woke the next morning in a dirty bed in a motel, half naked, his existing clothes torn, hair messy, with a woman beside him, and he realized last night couldn't have gone well.

He scrambled up and then hastily turned away, realizing the woman was Sakura and her breasts were very much exposed, not to talk about her lower body. This was just indecent. Vaguely, Sasuke realized his head actually didn't hurt like it usually did in the morning, but he ignored the fact in search for his clothes. He was so not going to look at Sakura naked. He was _not _going to look at his ex-teammate naked. Oh, who the hell was he kidding? He'd seen _plenty _last night.

He jumped at a muffled voice coming from Sakura. "Okay, last night was either really good or really bad." She took her arm off her eyes and looked at Sasuke, then noticed that her Akatsuki cloak was nowhere to be found and she was in a ripped camisole. And _nothing else._ "Oh, shit."

"Really bad, then?" Sasuke guessed as he gathered up his sword and kunai pouch. He glanced back at Sakura, who seemed torn between being bemused and freaking out

"I don't even know," she murmured, like she was on the edge of a panic attack. When she realized Sasuke was preparing to leave, she frowned. "Hey, where are you going?"

"Away," Sasuke replied, not pausing at all as he found and smoothed down his clothes.

Sakura almost looked like she was going to protest. She stretched like a cat and rolled over, searching the room.

"I'm pretty sure your cloak is in the bathroom, but it's probably pretty torn," Sasuke muttered in answer to her unspoken question. "And your pants are probably outside in the snow."

"Oh, this isn't awkward _at all_."

Sasuke said nothing and went for the door.

"Sasuke, I…"

he turned around to see the blush that spread all across her body.

"…nevermind. It's pointless."

"You're annoying," said Sasuke. "Guess you were right about the fate thing. I'll see you around."

That smile…it could almost be _gentle. _

And then he was gone.

What the hell had just happened?

* * *

**AN: So here's the situation- updates for the next 2 months will be sparse, and after that they'll pick up a lot (summer vacation fuck yeah). **

**And no. No lemon. This story is rated T. But I might upload it elsewhere or as another story...sometime. Maybe.**

**I feel like I'm rushing things, but I want to get to the next major parts, y'know?**

**Reviews would be lovely! Thanks for reading.**


	27. Sakura's Truth

Sakura stumbled back to base the next evening, nursing a headache. Itachi was used to her coming in like this—he didn't even wake from his sleep when she entered. Pain was going to be pissed that she didn't have the aphrodisiacs, but, well, too bad for him. She still had a packet left, anyway. She boiled herself some water in the corner and made tea, sipping it slowly and cautiously like it would try to kill her. Attempting to get last night's events out of her head, she took to sharpening her kunai, a comforting, thoughtless activity. After about an hour Konan entered the room. "Haruno-san, have you picked up the items Pain requested? I need them for my mission."

"I'm afraid they were…out of stock," Sakura muttered uncharacteristically. She pulled out a last packet from the pocket of her tattered cloak. "This was all I could get."

Konan looked at her like she knew she was lying—of course she was, _nobody_ was out of stock when it came to Akatsuki—then nodded, took the packet, and left.

Angrily, Sakura punched her small pillow, and went back to sleep.

She woke up to the opening of their door. Instinctively, she went for a kunai and threw it at the noise. There was no sickening squelch of pierced flesh or thwack of metal embedding in the door. Sakura opened her eyes and sat up rapidly. Pain, holding her kunai, sauntered into the room. "Please, Haruno, attempt to control that inconvenient reflex."

Sheepishly, Sakura rubbed her neck. "Sorry. I should've been more alert. Or less alert. Or…something."

Itachi sat up lazily on his side of the room, stretching his arms in a catlike way, mesh shirt riding up a bit on his stomach. He wasn't even threatened by the leader's presence—he had slept right through it. If he had felt threatened, Itachi would have woken up the moment he got within ten feet of the door. His sense for killing intent was amazing. "What brings you here, Leader?"

"New mission," he answered tersely, glancing at Sakura, and Sakura suddenly had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She felt like she wasn't going to like what he had to say. He looked almost…concerned, which was impossible for the impervious leader. He didn't care about the members, only about the mission—at least, that was the impression he gave. So why did he look like this mission would cause him to be concerned for her? He opened his mouth and Sakura's headache came back full-blast—

"Your mission," Pain said, "Is to capture the nine-tails Jinchuuriki. Render him incapacitated and bring him to the hideout for draining."

The world around Sakura spun. She left it to Itachi to accept the mission for both of them. As soon as they were dismissed, she stumbled to the nearest bathroom and vomited into the toilet several times, letting all her agony and disgust at what she had to do flow out. _Naruto. _When she was done retching and all that was left was little, short gasping breaths to stop the imminent tears, Itachi said from the doorway,

"You know, one would think you don't eat nearly enough to vomit all that up."

Sakura spun, a kunai in her hand as she furiously tried to stab the hell out of the Uchiha. Itachi effortlessly pushed her away so she stumbled against the lavatory wall. Itachi shut the door behind him, so nobody outside could hear.

Sakura's eyes burned, still she refused to cry. "Go away," she told Itachi. Itachi merely stood there. "What the _hell _do you want?" she shouted when he didn't move.

"I don't know enough about the nine-tails to do the mission on my own. You are going to have to cooperate with me on this…Sakura." Sakura barely registered that he was using her first name for the first time. "If you can't _stomach_ it," he paused, looking at the mess she'd made in the toilet, "I suggest you see Pain about leaving Akatsuki."

Sakura had dropped her gaze, but looked up with hate in her eyes. "I can manage this mission just _fine,_" she spat.

"Your attacking me shows otherwise."

"Stay out of my affairs, Uchiha."

"But then, your emotional attachment to the Nine-tails could also be an advantage. Perhaps you could convince him to come willingly…or lure him. I'll disable the Hokage. You capture the jinchuuriki."

"You're telling me we're going to single-handedly take on Konoha?" Sakura asked, getting up and pacing the length of the bathroom. "You think you're going to just waltz in and kill Kakashi-sen…I mean, the Hokage? You're telling me we're going to kidnap Na—I mean, the nine-tails—and bring him back without anybody noticing? "

"You know how he is. He obviously wants you back, so _go back. _But only to him. You can't be put in prison; that would be a waste of time. Speak to nobody but him, and knock him out with some sort of drug. I know how to get through the borders of Konoha—you probably do too. We are the best-suited team for this. When people notice, I will take them on. I can handle it."

"Yes, after all, you destroyed hundreds of renowned geniuses in one night," Sakura said sarcastically. Itachi didn't even flinch. He never did. She let out a long, shaky sigh. "Whatever. When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow, since you are obviously still hung-over. Get your drugs ready. I'll arrange my affairs."

Sakura bitterly pushed past him. He caught her wrist. "Again, Sakura, cooperation is essential to this mission. If you impair the mission, I will impair _you_."

"Understood," Sakura said stiffly and tried to leave. Itachi pulled her back again.

"I do not want to admit this, but my illness is getting worse. It will be bad for stealth if I start coughing blood in the middle of the streets. I fear your medicine is ineffective. What can be done?"

Sakura closed her eyes, exasperated. She pulled her hand away. "Option one: you stop straining your mangekyou sharingan so much; not viable. Option two: you quit the life of a ninja; not viable. Option three: you let me perform a possibly fatal surgery on your lungs; not viable in the current time. Option four: I concoct another medicine which will temporarily delay the disease. In order to concoct this potion, I need DNA samples from you. Open wide."

Itachi looked at her disdainfully, then parted his lips enough for Sakura to shove a cotton ball in and swap his cheeks. She pulled it out. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and said, "I'll work on it. Will you let me through now?"

Finally Itachi raised his arm and Sakura ran down the hall to the makeshift kitchen, intending to dunk her face in a bottle of alcohol.

She was just reaching into the fridge when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She elbowed whoever it was, figuring she wouldn't make a dent on any Akatsuki. She hadn't guessed that it was Tobi, who flew back into the kitchen counter.

"Owww, Sakura-chan!" he winced. "That huuuurt!"

"Tobi?" Sakura asked, too startled to be angry. "What are you doing here?"

"Tobi just wanted some food," the orange-masked man…boy…thing…whimpered.

"Sorry," Sakura muttered.

"What's Sakura-chan doing here? Is she going for the alcohol again?" Sakura looked surprised. "Yes, Tobi knows Sakura drinks. Just like Tsunade-chan. Sakura-chan shouldn't drink. It's bad for her."

"It's none of your business." Sakura opened the fridge, but all the bottles were gone.

"Hidan-san drank the last of the alcohol," Tobi informed her.

Well this day was just getting better and better.

* * *

Naruto strolled along the streets of Konoha. He'd just gone with Hinata to see how Neji was coming along, and found him making out with Tenten. They'd left in a hurry, naturally, and he mostly had to carry Hinata, who had fainted, back to the small apartment she'd rented. The Hyuuga rebellion was nearing its conclusion and everything was going well! Kakashi-sensei was Hokage now, because Tsunade was an even older hag than she used to be.

Unlocking the door to his apartment, Naruto stepped in with a long, content sigh. He would definitely be Hokage right after Kakashi-sensei. He was just a little bit young for now, according to Tsunade. Nice of her to talk with her age.

With a frown, he realized the window was open. He was sure he hadn't left it like that. Oh well. He stepped over to close it, and out of nowhere, his ninja senses tingled. Something was wrong.

The next thing he knew, a shadow in the corner moved and was going for his head.

Naruto whirled around, blocking the blow and grabbing the wrist so that the kunai couldn't hit him. With a sniff, he realized the kunai was poisoned. He kicked the figure into the corner. "Hey, what's your problem?" he yelled, jumping over and pinning the attacker down. The person had a black mask on and only the eyes were visible. The vibrant green eyes seemed somewhat familiar, but Naruto didn't have time to think as the ninja made a hand sign and disappeared. Then the attacker was behind him, reaching into a pouch and pulling out what appeared to be sleep bombs. Naruto held his breath and tried to look around. He kicked out blindly and, surprisingly, caught the attacker. He made sure to tackle the ninja and pulled off his mask—

It was a her.

Not only was she a her, but she was Sakura.

"Sakura?" Naruto whispered. What the hell was this? Somebody dressed up as Sakura? "Release!" He tried to get rid of whatever genjutsu was on her, but she just stayed the same way. It was really her! And she'd tried to kill him! "Sakura-chan!"

"Naruto," Sakura whispered, and there were tears in her eyes. "I…"

"_Sakura!_" Naruto tackled her into a sudden hug, realizing that she'd finally come back. Finally, she was done training with Orochimaru!

Sakura sounded like she was choking as she raised a hand to the back of his head. Naruto frowned in confusion, until her chakra ran through him, effectively knocking him out, and a needle stabbed itself into his arm. Oh, right. She was trying to kill him. But why?

* * *

Sakura slung Naruto over her shoulder and ran out the village gates. There was, of course, a barrier around the village that would warn if enemy ninja came in or out, but she and Itachi knew perfectly how to get through it. If she wasn't seen by any people—and she wasn't, seeing as it was the dead of night—she would get out. She swung Naruto down to cradle him in her arms, and he was limp, and oh god Naruto should never be limp, oh god, and it was all her fault, she'd injected the stupid drug and oh god she was taking him to his death and she was a monster—

She tried to keep the tears at bay, and sort of succeeded, maybe. She ran toward the Valley of the End, where she would stop on the way back to the Akatsuki base to freshen up.

She'd always justified going to Akatsuki with the thought that she could stop them from hurting Naruto.

And yet here she was, taking him to them.

Sakura didn't know who she was anymore. She'd given up everything, but if she gave Naruto to Akatsuki it would finally be the end of Sakura. She would really lose herself. She did everything to protect those she loved, while still going through with her goal. Now she realized things weren't so simple. She had to choose—goal or friends? If she saved Naruto, it would be a lot harder to achieve her goal. If she let them kill Naruto and take the nine-tails, it would mean the end of the world. It was a mark of how selfish Sakura had become that she was having difficulty with this choice.

Then, as she ran across the head of Uchiha Madara, out of nowhere…

Someone else's chakra.

Sakura knew who it would be even before she heard the cold, commanding voice from behind her, on the opposite statue: "Hand over the Jinchuuriki, Sakura."

* * *

Sakura whirled, face to face with Sasuke. Damn fate. She narrowed her eyes. "What do you want with…it?"

"Orochimaru doesn't want Akatsuki to have the nine-tailed fox. So he sent me to take it instead." Sasuke said all this in a perfectly nonchalant voice. Sakura would almost have believed the attitude. "Nice coincidence, isn't it?"

"So tell me, what nightmares did you have on the way here?" Sakura sneered, holding Naruto a bit closer to her body, protectively. "How do you deal with the guilt?"

"There is no guilt."

"Bullshit."

"Why should there be guilt? I'm ridding the Leaf of a potentially powerful weapon and taking it where it won't be used for war."

"You don't really believe that. What do you think Orochimaru will do with Naruto? Keep him locked up in a cell, experiment on him until he's nothing more than a hollow shell of what he used to be—do you think that's any better than his death?"

Sasuke looked at her steadily. "I've broken the bonds. I care nothing about this person. It's how I deal. But you seem to care, yet you're taking him to his death. How do you justify everything you've done?"

Sakura sneered. It was an ugly sight. "I don't."

"You…don't?"

"I'm a terrible, useless little girl who betrays everyone. I'm worse than you. I'm okay with that by now. I have a goal and nothing matters as long as I achieve it—that's the mentality I learned from you." She put Naruto down, and charged at Sasuke.

Easily, he dodged her first kick, but she flipped and jabbed out again. Sasuke activated his sharingan immediately, realizing that her fighting style had much changed. He caught a glance of the Akatsuki ring on her finger and angrily kicked out. They were on the Hokage's head now, exchanging kunai, trying to look for holes in the other's weakness. Sasuke tried to run past her, but Sakura swiftly stuck her foot out, spun, and pushed him off the hokage's head. Sasuke plummeted, and Sakura jumped in the water after him, riled up by the fight, wanting a few answers. He clambered out and tried to restrain her with razor wire and shuriken, but she'd seen him practice that trick endlessly back at the academy. She evaded it and flipped backwards to avoid a few kunai. They were at the base of the Hokage's foot, and breathing hard.

"Sasuke…" Sakura growled. She'd restrained herself from asking every time she'd seen him, but now it all spilled out in a furious, pained scream. "Why did you leave us? Explain to me. NOW! WHY THE HELL DID YOU LEAVE? You ruined everything!"

Sasuke was surprised, then slowly smirked. "Heh. You're just like Naruto." A chidori started to crackle around his fist, and he grabbed Sakura by the neck with the other hand, pushing her against the stony wall. She grabbed at his hand, trying unsuccessfully to pry it off in an attempt to get air.

"…If I kill you…I will gain unimaginable powers." Sasuke held the chidori up with the hand that wasn't around Sakura's neck. "That was the case with Naruto as well! I have to kill you…to kill Itachi!"

Sakura let out what might have been a laugh were she not choking to death. "So…that's it?" she gasped out. Sasuke's expression hardened. "That's your…reason for…trying to kill Naruto? You wanted the…mangekyou sharingan?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "How the hell would you know about that?"

"I'm not Naruto. I read up on things, and since you never bothered to burn the scrolls of the Uchiha…well, in preparation to face you or your brother, I did a little reading up while I was in Konoha." She grinned victoriously, and at that Sasuke seemed to snap.

"You snuck into the Uchiha household and went through sacred, ancient scrolls?" Sasuke demanded. "You…you defiled and disrespected the clan like that?" he rammed the chidori through her stomach. "You're just as bad as the rest of them!" he screamed. "Nobody in Konoha had or has any regard for the Uchiha! They feared them while they were alive, and when they died they just went on _smiling and laughing_! Laughing, like nothing had happened! I thought you were different for a second, but I should have known better!"

Sakura looked down at him, eyes dimming, and then she literally exploded. A shadow clone—just like Itachi's. The real Sakura emerged from behind a rock some distance away. Sasuke ran at her, not pausing in his tirade of accusations. "I will make the Uchiha clan great again! I will kill the one who destroyed them! And I'll wipe out Konoha—the _scum! _Everybody who sat by and watched it happen deserves to _suffer! _Why didn't anybody help my family, why didn't they stop Itachi? Why did they leave an eight-year-old boy with that kind of a burden?"

Sakura deflected several blows, so Sasuke tackled her to the ground, punching her in the face over and over again. He was fighting unpredictably, angrily, so unlike his usual precision. "I would have gained power—then you come along and destroy everything! You're still weak—you think you've improved, but you really haven't! You're so _annoying!_"

Sakura waited until he was done. Then, in a fashion that Sasuke found way too familiar, she spat blood into his face as her hair started to come out of its braid and drooped behind her.

Then she kicked upwards and Sasuke saw it just soon enough to avoid a blow to his groin, which would, without a doubt, have been excruciatingly painful. At least Naruto would never have gone for the groin. He waited for her to continue her attack, but she just stood and brushed herself off. When she lifted her head, there was a different look in her eye.

"You…you really wouldn't care if Orochimaru took your body, would you?"

Sasuke was taken aback. Then he shook his head and replied in monotone, "If it helps me defeat Itachi, he can have my life—and my afterlife, for that matter."

"Helps _you _defeat Itachi?" Sakura laughed. "Orochimaru will use your body for his own means. If he happens to kill Itachi on the way, it will be his doing, not yours!" Sakura stepped closer to him, now seizing _his _shirt before he could react. "Itachi killed _your _family. Not Orochimaru's. Aren't _you _the avenger? What do you want more: for him to be dead or for you to kill him? You keep telling me he's your kill, but apparently that's bullshit!"

"I don't need to answer to you," Sasuke growled, elbowing her away and pushing her against the stone. "What about you? What are you trying to pull?"

Sakura pulled out a kunai. Sasuke unsheathed his sword. Throwing the kunai as a half-diversion, Sakura punched the ground below. The side of the cliff tumbled down, rocks catching Sasuke and leaving bruises all over. He fell into the water, mustering all his energy to push himself back up to the surface. Sakura was standing a few feet away with an expression that he didn't like at all.

"Hey, Sasuke," Sakura sneered. She made hand-signs. Sasuke's eyes widened. No way! He barely managed to jump away before he would have been hit with a barrage of water. But then something grabbed him and he realized. Of course, she was a water type, and they were in water. He was fucked. Water tendrils curled around him, limiting his movement. Sakura stepped over him, placing her foot on his chest, face alight with victory. "Who's weak now?"

Sasuke sent lightning through his whole body in a _chidori nagashi_, and quickly climbed up the rocks on the cliff to the statue opposite the Hokage. Sakura followed him, and Sasuke smirked. She couldn't use water now, this high in the air. But Sakura surprised him again, knocking him back and pinning him again with water she'd kept in her mouth. She must have gotten some just for this purpose before she followed him. He had to hand it to her—she thought ahead.

She swung her foot high, intending to bring it down on him. He leaped back just in time—her foot came down on Uchiha Madara's head and one of the stone hair strands shattered beneath her. She started to fall, but managed to grab onto another surface with one hand. Sasuke leaped down to stand over her, slamming a sandle hard on her struggling fingers, cracking them. While Sakura fell, she left behind a trail of green chakra as she healed herself in the air. By the time she hit the water, she was done. She let herself sink down through the bubbles. Then she gathered water around herself, holding it back, gathering tension, until she released it and the water worked like a trampoline for her, shooting her up into the air. She grabbed onto Madara's nose, flipped herself up. Sasuke was running toward Naruto's prone form.

"No!" she commanded, and threw shuriken at him. Sasuke dodged them all without looking. Grimacing at the effort this would take, Sakura felt the pull in her gut as she forced water to come up from 150 meters below and hit Sasuke in the face with it. He stumbled back.

"What the hell do you want? What's this goal that you're working so hard for?" Sasuke yelled back at her, pissed. He was tired of this stupid fight, didn't want to have to go second form. His eyes were burning. He didn't know what she was trying to get at—why did it seem like she was trying to fight him more than save Naruto? Did she want to kill him? Why? Sakura finally started talking, obviously too tired to keep her secret anymore.

"It was all for you, Sasuke," Sakura snarled. "It was always you! Always! I wanted to kill Itachi since we became Team Seven—because I knew it would end the circle of hate! I kill him—you become the leaf's top ninja. Akatsuki kills me in retribution, but nobody would miss me since I'm useless. I only joined and worked with Akatsuki to kill the man I was partnered with! It was always you, Sasuke. Always. I wanted to grow stronger for you… to be able to protect you from Itachi, but mostly to save you from yourself. From what I understood, even back then, that you had to do. I wanted to be able to stop you from having to leave. And I guess I still wasn't strong enough. I guess I really did waste so many years of my life. I guess…Shikamaru was right: nobody has benefited from my leaving. But I can't go back. I can't go back to those memories, because as you know, you bastard, _I love you!_"

"You love me?" he repeated in disbelief. "Trying to punch a hole through me shows you love me?"

"Listen to me, Sasuke," she growled. "You and I both know you're not going to come back to the village after you kill Itachi. So I'll shoulder your hatred. I'm going to kill Itachi, and then you'll have to come after me, because I stole your kill. You'll kill me and I'll kill you, because I can't stand to watch you fall into the darkness that revenge brings. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy, Sasuke. It was my dream to make you happy. I..." angry tears spilled down her cheeks. "I just wanted to see you smile again!"

"You've gone crazy," Sasuke decided, because there was no logical order to her babbling. "The only thing that can make me happy is Itachi's death, and the destruction of Konoha for laughing at the Uchiha clan's annihilation."

"I told you this all those years ago. Seeking revenge won't make anybody happy—not you and not me. That's why I wanted to do it for you. If—if I can kill him, you can go without the weight of having killed your own brother, who I think...you still love. I _want_ to kill your brother for what he did to you and to the village. And when I die, you won't have to worry about me being annoying and getting in your way anymore. You can't give your body to Orochimaru, Sasuke. I'd rather see you die."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Then he laughed, laughed for so long, chest heaving and lips drawn wide. He sobered up after a minute, voice high-pitched and breaking a bit. "You really are that same fangirl. You presume to help me, but all you're doing is getting in my way. You…really _are _annoying. But if you want to die so much…" he swallowed for a split second, pushing aside the image of a six-year old bright green-eyed girl with rose hair—"I guess I could grant you your wish." He was tired, close to exhausted from the fight, but he still started charging up a chidori. It would be easy—that trick with pulling up the water must have taken a lot out of her.

Sakura knelt. "I've said what I wanted to say. The problem is…I can't die just yet. Itachi has to die at my hands first." She pressed a hand to the curse seal on the back of her neck and sure enough, black teardrops started to creep across her skin. "Just remember, Sasuke…-kun. I'll _always_ love you, and I'll never regret the times we had together."

The teardrops flared red, covering the skin and darkening into brown. She was going second state. Her lips darkened purple, green eyes blackening with yellow pupils, pink hair bristling out into a messy mane. Fangs peeked out beneath her lips, claws lengthening on her fingers. And finally, water rose almost of its own accord and wrapped itself around her in a spiral. Okay, so there was going to be an issue with using fire jutsu.

Sasuke looked downwards, and the waves below were rising, undulating faster and faster and higher. The water level seemed to be almost _rising _toward Sakura like she was a magnet. Now was the time to attack, while she seemed to be preparing. Literally lightning fast, Sasuke zigzagged from side to side, dodging the jets of water she was trying to trip him with, and jammed the chidori through her bubble of water. The explosion rocketed him back, and she was thrown against rock as well. Water flew everywhere, but the shield seemed to remain. Still, she seemed to be clutching a bit at her arm—he must have at least grazed her.

Sasuke intended to force out more chakra, but he couldn't do so without going second form. As the wings sprouted out of his back, she rushed him. He barely raised his hands in time to grab hers and grapple, trying to flip her over to get her away, but she was pushing hard and the water was getting in his face. She pressed forward, against him, and he prepared a _chidori nagashi. _As it threw her to the ground, he could have sworn her hand grazed his cheek. He went to step over her but the water slapped him in the face again, curling around him, holding his hands apart and his feet restrained to the ground.

It was time to end this. He used his strong wings to break out, and charged up the last chidori he had the chakra for. She was kneeling meters away, her palm growing green with chakra, the other hand holding a small ball of water.

For a split second when he looked up they made eye contact, snakelike eyes meeting. She mouthed something, but the roar of the chakra was too loud.

He stood and started running at her. She followed suit, and Sasuke wondered how her curse seal eyes could still cry.

_Heated breath, hands everywhere on that night, she was his no matter what, days at Orochimaru's base wondering what she was doing, remembering when she picked a flower for him and he grudgingly accepted it, remembering her holding him in the forest of death as he experienced the greatest pain of his life, feeling her hands on his chest as she healed and tried to breathe life into him, her lips covering his, her limp form as Itachi's blade ran her through—_

There was an explosion as they clashed, and then nothing.

* * *

It was raining.

Sakura stood over Sasuke, bruised and beaten. He was unconscious, a rather large hole in his chest. Burns covered her own body, but they were irrelevant. She was still standing.

Sakura fell to her knees over him. She shook with fatigue. Her bangs fell over her eyes as she placed her hands on the wound.

_Why am I doing this? _She wondered as she healed up the hole, draining the last of her chakra. _Why?_

She stood up and started to walk away.

_Why can't I let him die?_

_Why the hell do I still love him?_

She slung Naruto over her back and started walking toward the rendezvous point, where Itachi would be waiting. She would play the perfect little Akatsuki for a little while longer. Then, when she got just a little bit stronger and the extra drugs she'd added to his medication started kicking in, she would do it.

She would finally kill Uchiha Itachi.

If she died in the process, so be it.

* * *

**AN: I'm….really struggling with this fic. It's not quite speaking to me anymore. But I want to see it through, because I don't like giving up. However, I can't promise regular updates, because while a lot of the rest is written it's not quite tied together yet. I apologize for the extremely long wait, I really do.**

**I'd also like to give a special shout out to the anonymous reviewer Nonny, to whom I couldn't reply due to the aforementioned anonymity. Thanks so much for your lovely review—it really helped me get motivated to pull this chapter together and I'm so glad you're still enjoying it. **

**Uh, yeah, there's the explanation you've all been waiting for-Sakura's reason for everything. Sasuke. Typical of her, isn't it? She was willing to give up her whole family and she's taken it one step farther. This true love thing is getting kinda twisted.  
**

**-SaccharineGray**


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